Hybrids: On the Run
by Jetafray Angel
Summary: Death can come fast, or it can come slow. Many of us know this, but few have expirenced it. Melissa and her gang have... and are about to expirence more. Co-written with Prenn. Contains OCs.
1. Hybrids: On the Run part one

_Hybrids: On The Run_

**Co-written by Jet ( Jetafray Angel) and Prenn ( Leonardo DiCaprio)**

**Beta Reader: Prenn**

**Appropriate disclaimer: We do not own Danny Phantom or Gotcha on the Run.**

**Danny Phantom series, DP characters, ghost zone, ghost species, halfa species © Butch Hartman**

**Gotcha on the Run song © Tiffany Alvord**

**Cecelia, Garth, Wenn, Cirth, Melanie, Tossi species, Tossi realm, Niki, Reepers © Prenn**

**Melissa, Tyler, Tori, Chloe, Renyi, Jonna, Roger, Blake, Kate © Jet**

**Larrow © Prenn & Jet**

**Bob (we have permission to use) © RinRox**

* * *

_Episode one: On The Run (Part 1 of 2)_

It was a bleak afternoon. The seriousness of the current mood seemed to flood through the air like energy. Everybody knows that Amity Park, Colorado is one of the most dangerous towns in the world, even if they'd never admit it. People tend to panic more often than they can ask for help.

In the past, there have been countless ghost threats with the occasional Tossi popping up. Life expectancy has lowered over the past few years as well. Whatever happened to all the hope?

Agent O of the Guys in White has been transferred here to put the hope back into the people of this forsaken little town.

"What are you implying, Agent O?" Jonna asked. She was the main news reporter in Amity Park and has been ever since the Ectoranium event a year ago. "Who are you talking about?"

Agent O, soon to be commended to Rank O in the Guys in White, grinned. "As you are all aware, there has been an increase in… paranormal activities ever since the Disasteroid incident."

Everyone in the crowd nodded sharply, especially a human-ghost hybrid that was in the front of the crowd. People have been exposed to all these toxic chemicals everywhere lately, making freaks with the weirdest of powers show up. Just last week a cat-human chick had tried to make out with Phantom.

"A group of reckless teens with superpowers have been traveling across the world, bringing all destruction where ever they go. Last year, these freaks set the capital in Kansas on fire. They were caught in a picture fleeing the scene." He pulled out a remote from his vest pocket, and pushed a big red button on it. A projection screen came down in front of the Mayor's office, showing pictures of various places worldwide. "Their names are unknown, but they have been a top priority since before any major event."

The crowd was silent, focusing on the picture of the freaks. There were five characters, looking like they were staring at the place in shook. Their looks weren't completely identifiable, but you could see that their ages appeared to range from 10-18 years.

"These children have been tormenting places worldwide. Two months ago, this same group was stopped at a major shooting in California. About a week ago, they were reported to be at a cinema in Illinois. And we believe that," he paused, clicking the button as the screen pulled back up, "they are heading to Amity Park."

Various cries echoed from the crowd. "What?"

"Why would they do something like that?"

"What are we going to do about this?"

"People, calm down," a darkly skinned boy stood, waving his hands. The teen, known by the world as Tucker Foley, was currently (the youngest) mayor of Amity Park. "We have this situation under control. Right, Danny?"

Danny Phantom, the young man at the front, nodded, floated beside his friend. "These…kids can't do much in this town with Team Phantom here," he stated with confidence.

Agent O nodded, walking off of the platform.

At the back of the crowd, a young adult huffed. His head was covered by the red hoodie he was wearing –a recently acquired article of clothing. Then, he gradually left the crowd, heading to a small apartment he had rented out.

Upon entering it, he found something he normally wouldn't have. Melissa, the oldest girl, was asleep on the ground, drool wetting her pillow. Tyler was on the couch, curled up in a ball under a few covers. Chloe was on one of the twin beds, snoring softly. Tori was sitting up normally, sketching in her sketch diary.

Renyi –for that was the boy's name– took Melissa's pillow out from under her head, having her head slam hard on the floor. She remained asleep, however, moving her hands up to use them as a pillow. Renyi slapped the pillow on the young witch, but only got a moan as a response.

"Don't bother," Tori stated, placing her sketchbook down and brushing her black-tipped blonde bangs out of her face. "Mel just fell asleep."

Renyi growled lightly, slapping the pillow harder. "We need to leave," Was all the werewolf replied with, slapping Melissa with the pillow again.

Instantly, Melissa's eyes widened and she shot to her feet, staring into Renyi's eyes. "I. Am. Not. Leaving." she mentioned, poking Renyi in the chest at every word. "We just got here and you want me to up and leave? Sorry, but no." With that, she dropped to the floor, pulling her pillow along with her.

Chloe peeked open one of her soft eyes, which was hidden by her sloppy and curly lime green hair. "I am on the same boat as Melissa," she agreed. "No moving for at least another day. Too…" she yawned, closing the eye, "tired."

Renyi growled, baring his k-nines. "But they have GiW agents scattered all around town," he snarled. "You know? The American Government that has moved up from all things ghostly to all things paranormal?"

Tyler moved the blanket off his head, blinking twice before standing up. "Look, so what? It's not like we're wanted for anything. I doubt they even have any pictures of us."

Renyi huffed. "Ty, I was in the plaza just now. They have a photo of us from a year and a half ago."

Melissa looked up, clearly not having fallen back asleep. "So? Our hair and clothes were completely normal then. We decided to do this style, what, a month or two ago?" Then she stood up, sitting at the foot of Clo's bed. "Renyi, do they even have our names?"

"No…" He said slowly, knowing he was losing this battle. He really hated it when he lost these kinds of things.

Melissa smiled, blowing her pure black –and natural– hair out of her face. "Then we're all safe. I guess it's a good thing I signed us all up for school."

Instantly, the room fell into silence. Nothing moved, no one breathed, and Melissa kept her smirk on her face.

Finally, Renyi muttered something. "You did what?"

Melissa laid down, her head falling on Chloe's legs. "I signed us up for school, with Renyi as a certified guardian. Chloe and Tori will be going to the middle school, while Ty and I shall be attending Casper High."

"YES!" Chloe yelled, jumping up in the air. She threw her hands up, bouncing on the bed and –accidentally– stepping on Melissa's hair.

Out of a natural reflex, Melissa's hair shortened into a pixie cut, knowing it was the cause of discomfort.

"No," Renyi deadpanned. "A thousand times no. There is no way we are staying here longer then–"

"I also got you a job," Melissa mentioned, sitting up. "This guy named Garth works for the GiW and needs a partner. You're officially an undercover agent for us, Ren! Congratulations!"

Renyi just stared at Mel, realizing the pros to what she had done. Not only were the other members about to get a decent education, Renyi could find out all he knew about the GiW and what exactly they planned to do to them… If they could catch them, that is.

"Fine," Renyi finally agreed, being broken down. "But if one thing goes wrong –one teensy little thing– we leave instantly and without complaint, understood?"

"Understood!" Melissa yelled, saluting.

Tyler just stared at Melissa, his eyes wide. "How did you manage all that?" he asked, referring to the school sign-ups and jobs.

Melissa shrugged, looking at Renyi. "You people wonder what I can do with my telekinesis," she stated, tapping her mind. "Just hacked into a mainframe and added our names as new students, then sent in an approved application for Renyi."

They all conked their heads, a 'Really?' look on them.

Melissa laughed, waving her hand. "Eh, I ran into a member of Casper High's school board and he sorta forced me into it. Then, I ran into Garth… Nice taste in style Garth has, by the way– and he said he needed a partner. I was just like, 'My older brother is in need of a well-paying job. Maybe he could do?' He replied with a, 'He needs to be able to have great reflexes and be able to take care of himself.' I said, 'Then Renyi's perfect! He'll meet you at the headquarters tomorrow!' And I left!"

They continued to stare at her, all confused. Melissa just laughed, throwing her head back.

* * *

_Four minutes. "Four minutes!"_

Someone was yelling at Melissa, and she couldn't quite hear them properly in the land of dreams.

"We have–" there was static "–before school!"

And like that, Melissa jumped up, her appearance changing to her casual outfit. Okay, casual for them. An orange, short-sleeved shirt with a white under it, fingerless black gloves, white jeans, and black ankle boots. It was completed with the swirl tattoo on her neck, one of which was only visible to people who weren't fully human. Her hair lengthened, reaching just below her waist and gaining white tips.

Chloe –she was the one who had been yelling at Melissa– laughed, showing off her green top, one that had a robot and a caption saying 'I LIKE WAFFLES', and black shorts. Her signature dark green hat was on, her lime hair tied in a low pony in the back. Her shoes were a muggy green converse, looking worn out and dirty –just the way Chloe liked them.

Tyler strolled up, picking at his dark blue and white shirt endlessly, seriously wishing he had the same ability as Melissa, his (secret) crush. His light blue jeans were skinny, showing off his thin legs like never before. His dark blue hair was looking oddly fresh, smelling like the ocean. Ugh, how he despised water.

"I hate scented conditioner," he stated, flipping his hair Bieber style.

"I love it," Melissa stated, blinking her yellow eyes. "I really love it when it smells like vanilla!"

Renyi walked in, but he was in a white tuxedo, the signature outfit for GiW members. He looked at the group, noticing on familiar face was missing. "Where's Tori?"

"Right here," she whispered lightly, appearing out of nowhere. The ghost hybrid was in a purple tank, a black vest thing over it. Her hair was in a long braid, going to the middle of her back. Her purple shorts with black lining were just passing her fingertips, a dress code rule she had actually complained about. Her knee-high white boots were –thankfully– not forced out of the dress code.

Renyi nodded, not surprised by Tori's appearance. "You all ready? The bus should be here in a few minutes."

Melissa grinned, her pearly whites very visible. "You betcha! The bus stops at the middle first, then our high. It's all good! Don't worry about school supplies; I talked to the school board and they have them all set. So, let's go!" She ran to the door, opening it.

Ty followed her, walking out the door. He shook his head lightly at Mel's action, but was completely used to it. Chloe ran out, bumping into Tyler on the way. Victoria just strolled out casually, grabbing her sketch diary as she headed out.

Renyi soon followed, scowling inwardly at the horrid clothes he had to wear. If he was allowed to wear normal clothes, the first thing these would meet was his teeth, then the dumpster.

With the room empty, Melissa followed, the door closing on its own afterwards.

"Okay, after school, I want you all to go to the apartment directly afterwards, okay?" Renyi ordered.

"Sure," Melissa said, although she had no intention of doing that. "Whatever."

The bus pulled up, looking awfully crowded. The four kids just stared at it, all subconsciously wishing the school was close enough they could walk there.

Renyi waved them on, then began walking the mile to his new job.

***On the bus***

The four walked on, instantly receiving odd looks from the various other students. The new students ignored these stares. And they chose seats in the back that were –thank the witches– open.

A blonde jock feller –whom Melissa recognized as Dash Baxter, one of those kids that hangs out with Danny Phantom and his posse. He had the smirk of a jerk on his face as he watched one of the science nerds spill his project all over the floor. "Who're you? New kids? What's with the funky outfits?" He asked, elbowing the other person besides him. Kwan laughed.

"Yeah, we are," Melissa spoke up. "I'm Mel, that's Ty, this is Clo, and she's Tori. We're all cousins, and we ended up coming here on short notice. And who are you, mister?"

"Dash Baxter: King of Casper High! I rule this school."

"I highly doubt that." Tyler said under his breath. "You don't look like a king."

Dash gaped.

"You know if you keep your mouth open flies will go in it." Chloe added, standing up and closing his chin. "That's better."

Dash just turned around and sat down, not wanting to start a fight right now.

Tyler grinned, sinking back into his seat from behind Mel's. Mind powers would come in handy at high school, that's a fact.

Chloe turned to face Melissa, bouncing in her seat. "I can't wait!" she fizzled. "I get to go to school!"

People gave her odd looks, catching her odd sentence.

"Uh, she's been home-schooled her entire life." Melissa lied, something she commonly did to save their skins. "We all have, but this is our first time at a public." She was met with 'oh's.

Melissa grinned, falling back into her seat feeling satisfied. This would be fun.

***Middle School***

Chloe, after talking to the office and getting her supplies, sighed as she stared the door to her first period class. She had been so excited for this, but now? She was nervous.

However, she refused to let the jitters get to her. And, with a confident stride, she entered the room. A few eyes turned to face her, one of which was the teacher's. At six feet tall and wavy blonde hair, the teacher grinned widely. She waved to Chloe. "Okay, class. Chloe is new here."

There were a few eye rolls and snickers, most of them coming from a certain group in the front row. Chloe glared sharply, her 'shark-like' eyes making the group squirm before she casually headed to the front.

"Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?" the teacher asked, curious about this tomboy-looking chick.

Chloe nodded, turning to face her class. "Well, I'm Chloe. If you want you can call me Clo, and I'd be happy. I like robots and anything that comes from the ocean. Oh, and if you're wondering, I do not eat fish, I like them as pets."

The class stared, a bit shocked. Most people weren't as open when they were doing public speaking. Actually, few opened up like this.

"Does anyone have any questions for Chloe?" the teacher asked, observing her class.

Three hands went up, one from the middle and two from the front. Chloe picked on the girl in the middle, seeing as her gentle green eyes made her look sweet.

"Why is your hair green?" she asked, leaning into her left arm.

"I like it like that," Chloe answered. "Green is my favorite color, and I find it lucky my hair is naturally like this." She pointed to a boy in the front row. "You?"

"Do you really like waffles?"

Chloe laughed, holding out the bottom of her shirt and reading it. "Yes, waffles are utterly amazing. You? Do you like waffles?" she asked back, grinning like crazy.

"Heck yeah," the boy answered, then leaned back into his chair.

The next boy asked his question. "Is the rest of your family Goth?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow, but slowly nodded. "You could say that. I guess they are. Well, all but Tyler. He's not really pure Gothic like Melissa and Renyi, but he wears some black with his normal colors: blue and white."

The rest of the class was silent, and Chloe was feeling very proud of herself. There may be many fish in the sea, but Chloe's one of a kind.

***Tori***

Tori took a deep breath, pushing open the door to her class. It was in an entirely different hallway then Clo, and it made her nervous. Tori was known to the group as the silent striker, quiet but deadly. Normally, Tori was fearless about this. But she didn't do well with pressure on her. Tori hated attention, since it was what she was after when… no, that wasn't important.

But this wasn't anything, right? Seriously, all she had to was walk in, say hi, take a seat, and then the day'll be over with, right?

If she says something.

The teacher smiled at Tori as she walked in, the door silently closing behind her. The teacher –later introduced as Mrs. Shana– asked her to come to the front.

"Class, this is Victoria," she introduced, gesturing to the ghost hybrid. "She's new, and I've heard her… cousin, was it?" Tori nodded. "Was also attending. I expect everyone to welcome her with smiles, also tell her about our unique drill system involving ghost attacks.

Tori tensed, wondering if her ghostly radar would go off. That's what her and the group called it, at least. She could tell when a ghost was near and where it was, simply because of intuition. Oh, and the purple mist that escaped her mouth.

"Is there anything you want to say?" Mrs. Shana asked, looking from Tori to the rest of the class.

Tori shook her head, deathly nervous.

"Figures," one boy snickered. "She just let the other girls take care of Dash on the bus."

Tori glared sharply, doing her best to stop her eyes from glowing. She succeeded, having years of practice. The boy instantly shut up from under her glare, and Tori grinned, satisfied.

"Well, uh," Mrs. Shana began, lost for words. "Why don't you take a seat beside Shelby?" She pointed to a seat in the middle row.

The girl, grinning widely, patted it. With a smile, Tori took her seat.

***Renyi***

Walking into the GiW headquarters was quite possibly the hardest thing he ever did. Aren't the pray supposed to avoid entering the hunter's den? For a second, Renyi considering high tailing it out of there, grabbing the rest of the group and leaving that second.

But, he never backs down from a challenge. And, upon viewing this as a challenge, Renyi took on the role of the hunter.

"I'm looking for Garth," he said, walking up to the front desk. At it sat a young man, possibly in his early twenties.

"Are you Renard?" he asked, sounding a bit too formal for the werewolf's liking.

"Yes," Renyi answered. "I was told to meet him here." Predictably, Renyi glanced behind the man, taking a peak at the long hallway behind him.

The man just picked up a small phone, dialing some number. "Hello? Garth, Renard is here."

With his super hearing, Renyi was able to hear the other side of the conversation.

"Already? I wasn't expecting him until noon… All right, send him in."

The clerk nodded, hanging up the phone. "He said you could go in. His office is down the hall, third door on the left."

Renyi nodded, moving around the desk and walking down the hall. He easily found the door, but it was locked. He knocked once, getting no response. After another knock, Renyi considered fleeing again.

However, the door swung open, revealing a smiling Garth. "Renard?" he asked, taking a deep breath.

"Call me Renyi," he replied, sticking out his hand.

"Well, Renyi, come on in! Welcome to the Guys in Whites' headquarters!"

Still unsure, Renyi entered, unknowingly stepping into this young man's territory. And Garth Lloyd was anything but ordinary.

***Tyler & Melissa***

"Ready for this?" Tyler asked Melissa, peering through the small window to the class. He could make out Sam Manson, Danny Fenton , Cecelia Hazel who was Danny's girlfriend, and Tucker Foley in there. Tyler instantly didn't trust them because they worked for the government.

Melissa huffed, lightly pushing Ty away from the door. She grasped the handle, but didn't open the door. "I'm more ready than when we visited the Grand Canyon." she stated.

"Uh, you fainted from the heights and Tori had to fly down and catch you."

"Exactly," Mel confirmed, turning the door knob. "That's why I said I'm more ready." With that, she swung the door open, walking in with Tyler following behind.

Mr. Lancer, an overweight and bald teacher, stood at the front. He looked up from a book of poems, smiling at the two newest additions to the class. "Ah, Tyler and Melissa, correct?" he asked, getting up from sitting on his desk.

"That's us," Melissa confirmed, placing her gloved hands on her hips. Sam and Cecelia instantly liked these two, but for completely different reasons. Sam was for the Gothic appearance. What? The schools needed more of those. And Cecelia because she could instantly tell this girl was not afraid to stand up for herself.

"Well, is there anything you'd like to say to the class? Anything interesting about yourselves?"

Melissa grinned, walking to the front. Tyler followed, a small grin, but not as big as Mel's. "I can sing," she stated bluntly, knowing that was something not many could do. Okay, everyone can sing. But not many people can sing well.

Mr. Lancer's eyes widened, having no student who are willing to sing openly. "Care to give us a demonstration?" He asked, knowing the talent show had been canceled last year due to a ghost attack. Surprise, surprise.

"Not at all," Melissa answered. "_Skyscraper_ or _Rolling in the Deep_?" she asked him.

"I do not know what those songs are." Mr. Lancer stated, wondering what teens were listening to these days.

"Oh, old school, huh?" she joked, grinning. "I guess I'll just go with this one:

_You broke my heart, so I'm taking it back.  
I'm keeping it for, someone who's a real man.  
Get off my porch, you're sorrys don't work here,  
I cried cried cried, but did you care?_

You're down on your knees when you should be running,  
You think this is a joke but heartbreak isn't funny,  
Don't you remember the last time we stood here?  
I cried cried cried but did you care?

Oh, I've got you on the run boy,  
I'm telling you I'm done boy,  
You should know by now,  
I won't take you back!

Oh, I'm doing this for fun, you see?  
After all you've done to me,  
You should know by now,  
I won't take you back!

You're tellin' me stories, they kinda sound exciting,  
Sounds like a movie, that I'm never buying,  
Bout' a stupid boy, who promised to love me,  
I cried cried cried when I got nothing.

Don't treat me like a kid, I'm no longer naive,  
After all the things you said, I'm not losing sleep,  
I'm better without you, I'm better without you,  
So cry cry cry if you want to!

Oh, I've got you on the run boy,  
I'm telling you I'm done boy,  
You should know by now,  
I won't take you back!

_Oh, I'm doing this for fun, you see?  
After all you've done to me,  
You should know by now,  
I won't take you back!_

Run boy run, you should run boy run !  
(I'm better without you, I'm better without you)  
Run boy run, you should run boy run!  
Run boy run, you should run boy run!  
(I'm better without you, I'm better without you)  
Run boy run, you should run run ru-u-u-unnnn!

Oh, I've got you on the run boy,  
Oh, I'm telling you I'm done boy,  
You should know by now,  
I won't take you back...

Oh, I've got you on the run boy,  
I'm telling you I'm done boy,  
You should know by now,  
I won't take you back!

_Oh I'm doing this for fun, you see?_  
_After all you've done to me,_  
_You should know by now,_  
_I wont take you back!_

_No-o-o-ooo!_"

Melissa smiled, looking at all their stunned faces. Then, they began to clap. "Thank you," she said, taking a bow.

Tyler laughed, having heard Mel sing before. "You should've asked for _Skyscraper_," he mentioned quietly, turning to the class.

Mr. Lancer blinked. "Is that what kids are listening to these days?" he asked.

The half-witch shrugged. "Eh, I don't know. They're probably more into _Skillet_ or _One Direction_. Us teens don't really listen to Elvis." The class snickered, warming up to Melissa already.

Mr. Lancer blinked again, then turned to Tyler. "Can you do anything interesting?"

"I, uh, am studying hypnotism," he offered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not that good at it, yet, though. I just learned how to hypnotize a chicken."

The class snickered.

Melissa glared, meeting all the eyes of the students who were laughing at her friend. Her eyes said it all. "Mess with him, you mess with me."

"She's got a mean glare," Cecelia whispered to Danny.

Danny nodded, looking back at his girlfriend. "Tell me about it. It was like she's had too much practice."

"You never know," Sam put in, joining in the conversation. "You've seen me and my parents. What if something happened with her and hers'?"

"Yeah," Cecelia admitted, smirking. "Should we invite them to sit with us? They seem…different. You're always telling me how being different is good when it comes to Casper High. As long as it's a good different."

Danny almost laughed aloud. "Tyler's into hypnotism and Melissa's a star singer. Of course we should invite them."

Melissa took her seat –which was across from Sam's. Tyler's was beside Melissa's. He was wondering how long their secret would last. Because deep down, somewhere in his demonic soul, Tyler knew this wouldn't last. For them, peace never did.

* * *

Melissa laughed, choking on her spaghetti she had gotten for lunch. Okay, she _thought_ it was spaghetti. Across from her, Tucker was telling them of the time two birds had turned a wall to the boys locker room invisible, right when Danny was taking a shower.

"So the entire school saw you… naked?" she got out, looking at Danny.

Danny blushed, shaking his head. "That part of the wall hadn't been turned, thankfully."

"I wasn't even at Casper at the time to see it," Cecelia quipped, elbowing Danny lightly.

"Well, considering we've been home schooled, I can happily say we've never had an incident like that," Ty added absently, grinning.

Melissa laughed, throwing her head back slightly. "Ty, that's where you're wrong. Remember that time Tori…" she let it hang, knowing Tyler remembered.

Blushing, Tyler returned to the possibly-noodles on his tray and began twisting his fork.

"So, you have any embarrassing stories you'd like to tell?" Tucker asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Uh…" Melissa stared at Tucker, looking creeped out. "Not really. Haven't really had anything. The worse might've been the time I lost my voice and tried to sing. Dang, I sounded like a dying frog!"

"Not really," Tyler defended. "You only sounded like a frog, not a dying one." At that, the entire table broke into laughter.

* * *

_**Link of the chapter: watch?v=VI2dUvETs7Y&feature=relmfu**_

* * *

**Jetafray: Hello peeps and peepetts of Fanfiction! This is the very first story I am releasing and am honored to be working with Prenn!**

**Prenn: Here's a novel that all fans of the DP world will enjoy. Prepare for a unique experience of epic proportions as all the action starts to heat up! There will be adventure, love, mystery, and possibly death!**

**Jetafray: Anyway, be sure to review! I'm a new writer and we would love to hear your feed back!**


	2. Part TWO!

_Hybrids: On the Run_

**Jetafray: Hiya peeps! We're back!**

**Prenn: Wassup? That is the continuation of the epic story-Hybrids On The Run.**

**Jetafray: Without further adu, here's the discaimer! Oh, then the story. :)**

**.**

**Co-written by Jet ( Jetafray Angel) and Prenn ( Leonardo DiCaprio)**

**Beta Reader: Jet**

**Appropriate disclaimer: We do not own Danny Phantom**

**Danny Phantom series, DP characters, ghost zone, ghost species, halfa species © Butch Hartman**

**Cecelia, Garth, Wenn, Cirth, Melanie, Tossi species, Tossi realm, Niki, Reepers © Prenn**

**Melissa, Tyler, Tori, Chloe, Renyi, Jonna, Roger, Blake, Kate © Jet**

**Larrow © Prenn & Jet**

**Bob (we have permission to use) © RinRox**

* * *

_Hybrids: On the Run (part two)_

Danny and Cecelia could tell that Melissa and Tyler were kindred spirits already.

"You're welcome to sit at this table every day," Cecelia invited. She cast a look at her boyfriend, who did not seem to object. It was Sam who did not think this was a good idea. Cecelia and Sam scarcely agreed on anything, though.

So while they ate, there was quite a long bit of silence among the six of them.

Until, that is, Cecelia noticed something quite peculiar. A jolt of adrenaline blasted through her heart and suddenly she was shaking like a leaf. Out in the hallway was a blond boy leaning casually against the brick wall. He was wearing a red jacket with a golden trim, black gloves, black boots, and thick grey pants. This was the uniform for where he came from. His name was Wenn Lester, and he was, in fact, a Tossi and a deadly threat so long as he was inside this school.

Cecelia gave Danny a subtle nudge to the elbow. He followed her gaze, and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Wenn standing only ten yards away.

"What do we do?" Cecelia whispered in his ear.

Tyler and Melissa noticed the strange behavior of Cecelia. They both looked over into the hallway, and found nothing out of the ordinary. They simply thought Wenn was a student. A student with a very odd taste in clothing.

Danny smiled at Tyler and Melissa as if nothing was wrong. He took Cecelia's delicate hand and helped her to her feet. "Excuse us everyone." Cecelia followed Danny out into the hall.

Sam finally caught on, but Tucker was as clueless as usual. Sam knew she had to keep Melissa and Tyler away from Wenn at all costs. There was a rule among Team Phantom members that, when an innocent human gets involved with a member, it is the member's responsibility to protect them from harm.

But this didn't stop Melissa from giving Sam a weird look. "Are they alright?" Melissa asked. "Cecelia looked scared."

"They're fine," Sam replied abruptly.

Melissa and Tyler didn't believe this for one second.

Out in the hall, Wenn smiled halfway when he saw the duo approaching. He beckoned for them to follow him outside.

"What do you want, Wenn?" Danny kept his cool.

"What_ I_ want is not important here. This is all about what I am going to _tell_ you." Wenn sat casually on the park bench. "Here, have a seat." He scooted over.

"We're fine, thanks." Cecelia said.

Wenn sighed. "Vlad is back. He's out of Walker's prison, and he has big plans for you."

"If you're trying to capture Cecelia and I, it won't work," Danny declared as he transformed into his ghostly half.

Cecelia had her fists at the ready.

Wenn let out a low chuckle. "You know I can't capture you two all by myself. But Vlad can. He will catch you eventually. And after he's done with you, he's going to take you to Korr. There's something you can look forward too—meeting with his majesty the Emperor. That's really all I have to say, kids. Enjoy your last few days at Casper High…" Wenn laughed wildly at Danny's and Cecelia's angered expression. Cecelia released an energy bolt. But she was a little too late in her timing, however, because Wenn had already teleported back to the Tossi realm. The electricity bolt completely disintegrated the bench Wenn had been sitting on.

Danny held Cecelia tightly to calm her down. She turned around and kissed him, fueling all her energy into that—their connection.

They should have been more careful, because Melissa saw the liplock from the girls' bathroom window. _Cecelia is cheating on her boyfriend? With Danny Phantom?_ Melissa didn't know who to trust anymore. She walked back into the cafeteria a minute later and found Danny Fenton and Cecelia Hazel both sitting down as if nothing had happened. Melissa said nothing of what she saw, but planned to tell Tyler later. _Cecelia was definitely a master of disguise. If she had been hiding a secret as big as this one, who knows what else she could be keeping locked away..._

After school was over, Melissa and Tyler quickly met up with Chloe and Tori. Melissa was in such a hurry to get on the bus and tell them what she saw. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going as she pulled Tyler along. Melissa rammed headfirst into a tall, handsome young man with black hair and the most beautiful violet eyes. His face was clean-shaven, and he was just all-around beautiful, despite his cold, washed-out demeanor. He was wearing a grey baggy shirt and dark blue jeans and black boots. He had very plain taste in clothes.

"Sorry, my bad," Melissa said after staring at him for about ten seconds. Embarrassed, she pulled Tyler away. Melissa could've sworn that those violet eyes followed her onto the bus, but when she looked behind her, only Tyler, Tori and Chloe were there.

"Hey, Mel! How was your schedule? Was it as great as mine?" Chloe asked as she and Tori sat in the seats across the aisle from Mel and Tyler.

"Clo, Tyler and I...we had a very interesting day," Mel said honestly.

"Psh, not really," Tyler said.

"We landed ourselves a spot at a lunch table with four very interesting people." Melissa started. "Danny, Cecelia, Sam, and Tucker. Tucker and Sam are okay. It's obvious that Danny's the leader though. But I'm wondering if he's really that good of a leader considering the fact that he can't even control his own girlfriend."

Clo gasped dramatically. "Tell me! Tell me!"

Tori rolled her eyes.

"What are you talking about, Mel?" Tyler asked.

"When I was in the bathroom, I looked out the window and saw Cecelia making out with Danny Phantom, just outside the school."

"Still doesn't explain where Danny _Fenton_ went during that time. Unless, what you saw was just a trick of the eye and it was not really Phantom there, but Fenton," Tyler inputted.

"This is definitely more interesting than my day! Keep going!" Clo insisted.

"But that doesn't make sense either, Ty. Why would they leave the school grounds just to make out?"

Tyler shrugged. "I dunno everything."

"Yeah, for all we know, Danny could be a shapeshifter." Clo shrugged casually, as if that was a ridiculous idea.

"Clo, how are we to assume that there are other people in the world who are…special…like us? If there were, Renyi would have found them…" Tori started, but was wondering herself.

"Not necessarily." Tyler smiled slowly. "Not if he's the real deal. Nobody would have known."

"We'll confront them tomorrow, then?" Melissa awaited Ty's approval. He nodded.

The bus dropped the four of them off at home. It was the only "home" they had right now, if it could even amount to that apartment was small—only two bedrooms and one bathroom shared among five people. Luckily, the group had been able to acquire most of their furniture from dumps and garage sales. Renyi was waiting by the front door of the apartment building, a grim look on his face. The five of them walked in silence until they were inside with the door shut.

"Melissa? When you signed me up to work alongside Garth, did you tell him anything about us? Anything at all?" Renyi seamed fearful, and slightly panicked. Tyler, Clo, and Tori all stared at Melissa.

"No. No! I wouldn't even dream of revealing the—"

"He knows something. Somehow, Garth Lloyd knows that I'm not ordinary." He looked at each and every one of them.

"How could he possibly know anything unless you've changed in front of him?" Tori commented dully.

Renyi shrugged. "If our cover is blow, we say goodbye to Amity Park."

"No!" Clo squealed.

"I actually kinda like it here," Tori said softly.

"Me too," Ty agreed.

Melissa sighed as she collapsed onto the couch. Tomorrow would bring a new day.

"I'm going for a fly around town," Tori announced.

"Be back in time for dinner," Renyi warned.

Tori nodded, transformed into her ghost half, and flew outside into the alleyway. She needed to go someplace—a place where she could be alone without the constant noise of her roommates distracting her. She needed a place where she could practice her powers. Alone.

Every time Tori thought about the safety of her group, her team, she knew that they could all take care of themselves fairly well. At any time, Renyi could transform into a wolf and just slip away unnoticed. Chloe would never have to worry about drowning, because every time she is completely underwater, she sprouts gills and a tail. But as for Tori, she was the youngest of the group, and still had no idea how to use her powers even though she had them for three years. What she needed was a teacher, and she needed it badly.

*Danny's House*

School had let out about an hour ago, and Danny had flown home carrying Cecelia as usual. This would give them time to help Danny's younger sister—his clone, Danielle—with the turkey dinner before the rest of Team Phantom arrived for this "emergency" meeting.

Just as Danny was setting the table, Danielle opened the door to greet Garth. "Hey, wassup?" She gave him a high-five.

"Not much. I got a new coworker today. He seems ordinary enough," Garth said. He took a seat at the table. "Where are your parents?" he asked Danny.

"They went out to see _Inception_," Danny informed Garth. "It's pretty rad, or so I've heard."

Garth chuckled.

There was a double knock on the front door. "Heeeeeeey!" Tucker said as he gave Danielle a quick hug. Tucker, followed by Sam, sat down at the table as well.

"I've already given the update to Jazz," Danny announced as the turkey and salad were being passed around the table. "Vlad is out of jail. This means that he has become our number one threat again. You see, a puppet comes to life when it is being controlled by someone. Which means, the Tossi will be a more serious threat than ever. Cecelia and I saw Wenn today, so that's how we know."

"Wait, Wenn was at your school?" Garth raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, unfortunately." Danny reiterated the seriousness of the mood. "He has no shame. No guilt. No remorse. At any given time, he could strike us. Danielle, I want you on the lookout. You're in the freshman class, so I know you're by yourself, but tomorrow when you go to school, don't let your guard down."

"Yeah, why weren't you in school today, Danielle?" Tucker asked. "You missed meeting these two new kids."

"I was feeling a little sick to my stomach this morning." Danielle said.

"…New kids?"

"Melissa and Tyler," Sam said. "And thanks to _Cecelia_, they're now permanent members of our table." Sam shot Cecelia a cold glare from over the counter. Cecelia was just pulling the cookies out of the oven.

"Will you chill, Sam? I was just being—"

"Friendly? If that's the word you were going to use, then save it. We've got all the friends we need right here at this table." Sam smacked her hand down on the shiny wood.

"You're just afraid of outsiders." Danielle remarked to Sam. "You're afraid of change. Admit it."

Cecelia put the tray of cookies down on the table. "I'm with Danielle on this one."

Sam let out a low growl. She stood up right out of her seat, "Sometimes, you two are just so—" Garth caught Sam right before she got too close to Danielle.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys. We need to chill. We're under more pressure than we have been in a while, so the last thing we need is to be torn apart. We need to think and act as one, if battling the Tossi is going to be effective." Danny always had a way of creating peace between his friends, who sometimes clashed with each other due to their personalities.

Sam wasn't afraid to speak her mind, and neither was Cecelia. They butted heads often, which usually led to Sam getting mad and saying something she really didn't mean and Cecelia keeping her cool and usually winning because of it. And on top of that, Danielle always sided with Cecelia. The two were truly birds of a feather.

"We also need to keep our minds sharp. We can't let the Tossi in," Cecelia said.

"That's always hard," Tucker said through a mouthful of food.

"Well, doing the right thing despite the level of hardness involved is what makes us heroes," Danny said. Everybody agreed to that.

*Larrow*

It was nighttime in Larrow's world, but the green moon was always up. Larrow lived in one of those black houses—the ones that humans have trouble seeing with the naked eye. Of course, that really doesn't matter here because humans rarely visit the Tossi world. And if they do, they never come back out.

Today a Tossi boy named Larrow visited the human world known as Casper High. He'd gotten a low-paying job as Wenn Lester's assistant. This meant Larrow would be making regular appearances to Casper High, disguised as a student and wearing violet eye contacts.

Larrow Koh Haida was a member of an average Tossi family, who had been born and raised in the Tossi realm for generations. But Larrow wanted his life to be different. He was debating what to do. Today, on accident, he had encountered a very strange group of children.

He could see and feel exactly what they were. A halfa, a witch, a mermaid, a demon…what were they all doing so close together? Allies. Something must have happened to cause such a wide variety of species to ally. Larrow had only gotten a few seconds to glimpse their thoughts and memories, but in that time he had learned a great deal. Most importantly, he had learned that they were on the run. But, another thing that interested him, was how the witch felt. Definently not normal. Well, for a witch, that is.

This information would be very useful to Vlad.

He would need backup, though. Larrow had a neighbor named Niki. She was an electric Tossi while he was psychic. They had always been friends. When he gave her instructions, she followed them. She trusted him. Together, they teleported into the human world and walked into Vlad's mansion, feeling brave.

"Vlad!" Larrow called. Nobody seemed to be around. Larrow could tell there were people in here, though. And they were closing in.

Two big cedar doors swung open. Wenn Lester appeared, followed by Vlad Plasmius, and Cirth.

"Intruders?" Vlad asked Wenn.

"No. Larrow has some information you might like to hear." Wenn could see Larrow's thoughts just as easily as Larrow could see Wenn's.

"Vlad, I know about the plan to kill Danny Phantom." Larrow announced. "But you may want to consider your tactics, and your strategy. There are more than just ghosts and humans at Casper High, as I found out today."

Vlad's eyes widened. "Other Tossi attend Casper High?"

"No, not Tossi. Other species," Larrow explained.

"There are more worlds than meet the eye, Plasmius," Niki spoke.

"There are more Hidden Realms than you will ever know. Ever heard of a Reeper?"

"Don't get me started on those," Wenn yawned.

Vlad hated not knowing what they were talking about. "Hidden Realms?"

"Yes. Few creatures belonging to a realm outside of the human world interact with humans," Larrow said. "And that's why it is very peculiar to see…"

Wenn scoffed.

"Wenn!" Vlad scolded.

"I didn't see them! They're new students," Wenn confessed.

Vlad turned to Larrow. "So what are you proposing?"

"I'm asking if you can hire me. Because with witches, mermaids, demons, and who knows what else, Danny Phantom is going to be more heavily guarded than ever. If they take his side, they'll protect him like a shield and he'll be nearly impossible to hit. I know that the task of capturing Danny Phantom previously belonged to Wenn. I'm asking for it because I'm a new face. Team Phantom knows Wenn. They've seen him before, but not me."

"Hm." Vlad stroked his fuzzy chin. He turned to Niki, "And what use will you be?"

"The electric girl. Cecelia. I'll fight her once Larrow's got her cornered and alone."

"Alright. Sounds like we're going to have to break up Team Phantom starting from the root. From the core. What is one thing that keeps Team Phantom together _besides_ Danny?" Vlad asked.

"His love for Cecelia. Their relationship is what keeps the Team at peace with each other as well as with their allies," Wenn said.

Vlad grinned evilly. "And what is going through the head of young Valerie Gray?"

"Regret." Wenn said. "She regrets declining the invitation to join Team Phantom. Now _that_ is a thought I could hear a mile away."

"Looks like you have your work cut out for you, young man," Vlad said to Larrow.

"Call me Larrow, sir."

Vlad laughed. "You'll be hereby attending Casper High starting the day after tomorrow. I'll rent you a little house in the suburban area so that you have an address."

Larrow nodded.

"And remember, you work for me now. That means, you do what I say," Vlad said.

"What about me?" Niki asked.

"You? I'll be saving you for later, miss…"

"Niki."

"Niki. Go home. Get some rest. Think about what you're going to do the day after tomorrow," Vlad said slyly.

"I'm going to destroy Team Phantom," Larrow said as he and Niki teleported back to their world.

Wenn frowned at his boss once the invaders had left. "You shouldn't have done that."

Cirth rolled his eyes. "Danny needs to go already."

"Just you wait, Wenn, your time will come. But for now, let Larrow do his work."

*Next Day at Cecelia's House*

Cecelia lived with her father, Mortimer, in an average-sized home in the suburbs. It was two stories high. The walls were made of various woods, giving the house a very outdoorsy scent.

This morning at breakfast, Cecelia decided to call Valerie. The two used to be very close-knit, but had slipped apart as they went their separate ways in life. Valerie seemed to prefer fighting alone.

"Hey Valerie. How are things going with Bob?" Cecelia said.

"Better than I could have predicted. He's still in love with me. Can you believe it?" Valerie sounded almost lighthearted.

"I'm glad you're happy."

"What?"

"With him. I'm glad that you don't regret anything."

Valerie's line was silenced, but Cecelia expected as such. Cecelia had a way of getting people to admit things to themselves, even if they never admitted it to others.

"Maybe you will come 'round and sit with us at lunch today?"

No answer.

"Talk to ya later, Val." Cecelia ended the conversation.

*Apartment 3B*

The sweet smell of syrup, butter and flour coated the air. Melissa knew what that meant the instant she opened her eyes. She stood up and stretched, and then woke up Chloe, who was fast asleep.

"I smell pancakes, Clo," Melissa said excitedly.

Chloe shot up out of her bed and tore the covers off. She hopped into the kitchen area where Renyi was indeed cooking a pancake breakfast.

"What's with the change of heart?" Melissa asked him as Chloe sat down at the little table.

Renyi sighed. "I just thought I should do something nice. I sorta let my temper get the best of me recently, and I'm sorry. I'm not going to spoil this experience for you guys."

"Thanks." Tyler emerged from the hallway in his sweats. His hair was messy and uncombed.

"Breakfast'll be ready in about a minute. There's two pancakes for everyone. Mind the syrup." Renyi handed the single bottle of syrup to Melissa, since she seemed the cleanest.

"I'll go wake up Tori," Chloe said as she skipped into the bedroom.

"Tori?" Chloe climbed up to the top bunk. Nobody was there. Chloe checked the boys' room, and the bathroom. "Tori?" Tori was not in the apartment. "Um, guys, Tori's missing." Chloe announced.

With only thirty more minutes before school started, there wasn't much time to search. Everybody wolfed down their breakfast as quickly as possible.

While Tyler and Melissa knocked on every apartment residents' door, Renyi reverted into wolf form and began sniffing around outside the apartment building. Chloe kept up with him as much as she could. Eventually, Renyi found Tori asleep in the alleyway. He changed back to human and carried the young girl back into the home.

"My gosh, she looks exhausted," Chloe noted once everybody had gathered in the living room.

"When she wakes up, she'll be able to tell us what on earth she was doing in her ghost form _sleeping_ in the middle of an alley," Renyi said. He checked his watch. "The bus comes in about two minutes. Hurry up and get ready."

Chloe, Melissa and Tyler raced to their bedrooms to get changed and ready for school. "What about Tori?" Chloe asked right before she left the apartment.

Renyi laid Tori on the leather couch. "Let her rest for now."

Chloe nodded and she, Tyler, and Melissa got on the bus.

*Chloe*

Chloe didn't seem to have a problem making friends at all. There was this kid named Roger who sat next to her. He had such a sweet smile.

And he loved the ocean almost as much as Chloe. Chloe almost wished she could tell him that she was a mermaid, but knew he'd never believe her.

There was another kid in the class that had taken interest in Chloe. Her name was Melanie, and she had bright orange hair and light brown eyes. Chloe and Melanie were two out of only seven girls in the class. Melanie and all of the other girls in this class were best friends and had been so since the beginning of the year. Melanie felt it would only be fair to invite Chloe to sit with her.

In gym class, the girls' locker room echoed the voices of the seven girls. Chloe already felt like she belonged. Melanie took a sip of her green Gatorade right as she was trying to tie her shoelaces. One of the girls cracked a joke about Blake, and everybody laughed except for Melanie, who was starting to choke.

Laughter soon turned to panic. Some of the girls made a run for the coach. Chloe was the only person that stayed in the locker room with Melanie.

"You're going to be okay." Chloe put her hand on Melanie's neck and bended the water right out of her.

Melanie stopped choking, and gazed up at Chloe. "Thank you…?"

*High School Lunch*

Melissa and Tyler both bought hot dogs for their hot lunch today. They sat down at the same table as Danny, Cecelia, Tucker, Sam, and…a new girl. She resembled Danny quite a bit.

Danielle noticed the stare and said, "Hey there. I'm Danielle. I'm Danny's younger sister and I'm in the freshman class."

"Hi," Melissa said.

Tyler didn't speak. He nudged Mel and looked at Danny.

"Cecelia, Danny, you didn't see anything _unusual_ yesterday, did you?" Melissa asked casually.

Tucker briefly choked on his apple juice. Danielle patted him on the back.

"Such as…?" Danny wondered what the stranger was getting at. He looked her dead in the eye.

"Melissa thinks she saw something yesterday," Ty said. Melissa frowned. "You were taking too long."

"Saw what?" Cecelia asked.

"I think…I think I saw Cecelia making out with Danny Phantom," Melissa whispered to Danny. Tucker was so nervous for Danny's secret that the apple juice shot right out of his mouth and git Sam wet.

"UGGHH!" She scrambled to the bathroom.

Danny looked downwards at his food, unable to find words.

Tyler stared at Cecelia. "So are you two-timing him? Or…"

"Or what?" Cecelia asked.

"Or is there more to Danny than meets the eye?" Melissa raised an eyebrow. "Personally, I think Danny might be a…a wizard."

Danny's eyes widened. "What?" He asked in complete shock. "Are you serious right now? I'm not a wizard! I'm just a kid!"

"Hm. _Just_ a kid?" Melissa eyed each of them suspiciously as Sam returned from the bathroom.

Cecelia and Danny exchanged a look. Melissa had no idea what it meant, but Danny nodded, so Cecelia must have asked permission to do something. Cecelia got out a notebook from her red purse and ripped off a sheet. She wrote down an address and handed it to Melissa.

"That's my house address. Meet us there for dinner, say, around five?" Danny invited.

"Us?"

"Myself, these guys, and one other. It's a very exclusive group," Danny said.

"So don't tell anybody," Cecelia said to Melissa and Tyler. Danny and Cecelia shared a kiss. "And no, I would never _ever_ cheat on my Danny." She kissed him again. He smiled contentedly and put his arm around her.

*L.I.N.E. B.R.E.A.K.*

The rest of the day zoomed past, and Mel and Ty didn't really remember much of it because all they could think about was this address. On the bus, they met up with Chloe who went on and on about how super amazing her day had been. Melissa mostly tuned it out.

Once they got back to the apartment, it was time to share the news with the others. Melissa told them all to sit down on the couch while she told the story. Chloe thought it was all "Super fantastic!", while Tori seemed like she couldn't care less. Renyi seemed very skeptical. "And they just offered us free food?" Was his objection. "And asked for nothing in return?"

"Well…"

"They didn't invite _us_." Tyler corrected. "Only Mel and I."

Tori groaned.

"No FAIR!" Chloe said as she shot up off the couch.

"Calm down, Clo." Renyi said.

Melissa knew she just couldn't disappoint them. They were her "cousins" after all. She sighed deeply. "Alright, we'll all go."

"YAY!" Clo jumped up.

And so, at around four-thirty, they all left for the Fenton house. Since the teens hadn't done much exploring in Amity Park, they relied on Renyi for directions. They all managed to cram into his sloppy little brown car.

"This should be it." Renyi parked across the street from a city house that had a big sign reading "Fenton Works" all the way up top.

Melissa knocked on the door. Danny Fenton opened it. When he saw three strangers with the two people he recognized, he frowned.

Melissa knew she owed him an explanation. "They're all I've got. We're kind of a package deal."

"Cecelia!" Danny called her. She soon appeared. "Cecelia, you're a good judge of character. So tell me. What are you supposed to do if somebody entrusts you with a secret?"

"Keep it." Cecelia replied with understanding. She, too, frowned at Melissa and Tyler for exposing everything.

And then Tori pushed through to get to Danny. "Wait! Don't turn them down, just because we got curious! Please let them in?"

A little blue mist escaped Danny's mouth when the eleven-year-old got close to him. There was no way to hide it anymore. "Come in," Danny decided. "Quickly."

And so Danny, Cecelia, Melissa, Tyler, Chloe, Tori, Renyi, Sam, Tucker, Danielle and Garth all sat down on scattered sofas and chairs in the living room. Renyi felt awkward the moment he saw Garth.

"I should have guessed," Renyi stated, looking up and down Garth.

Garth shrugged.

"So, we're all here today because…well, because I called a meeting." Danny stood up, and turned to Tori. "Are you a ghost?"

Tori was trembling. She didn't know what to do!

"It's okay." Danielle stood up. Rings appeared around her hips and transformed her into a ghost with white hair and green eyes. A similar thing happened with Danny, and he turned into the famous Danny Phantom.

Chloe laughed lightly. "They're like you, Tori!"

Tori couldn't believe her eyes. She stood up and transformed into her ghostly other half, where she had purple hair. Danny and Danielle smiled.

"Tori, you're what's called a halfa." Danny explained kindly. "Halfa ghost, halfa girl."

"I'm not an ordinary girl either," Melissa said. She muttered a command in Latin and the chair Tucker had been seated on flipped over by itself. "I'm a witch."

"Do you all have powers?" Cecelia asked.

Renyi transformed into a wolf before them. And Tyler made the television burn in fire and then extinguished it without leaving so much as an ash trace.

"That's pretty good." Garth said. Chloe was the only one left. "What's your power?"

"Oh. I'm a mermaid." She said casually. "Do you have a pool?"

"No." Danny answered.

"Can you bring me a glass of water, then?" Chloe proved herself by doing a few examples of a skill she called "waterbending". What? She watches Avatar…

"Okay, now that we've shown you _our_ powers, what are yours?" Renyi asked.

Cecelia stood up. She put her hand on the floor and made all of the lights in the house flicker on and off rapidly. And then she shot the lamp with a small lightning bolt to turn it on. Everybody clapped. Next, the focus turned to Sam.

"What? I don't have any powers," She said, a slight hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Gee, that must suck," Chloe said.

Sam bit her lip.

"Hey, I don't have powers either, and I'm totally okay with that." Tucker said.

Last but not least, it was Garth's turn to impress. He took them outside, where he transformed into a medium-sized brown dragon in front of their very eyes. When he transformed back into human form, he received a high-five from Renyi, who understood what it was like to transform into an animal.

Once they all got back inside the house, it was time to pop the big question. "So, are you guys interested in…joining Team Phantom?"

* * *

**Link of the chapter: .com(slash)watch?v=kn1ZVJeZUVU&list=PL5280FD47EE6591D9&index=1&feature=plpp_vide**

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**Jatefray: Be sure to check out the link above. Did anyone else see the Macy's commercial on ABC? If so, check that link. Anyway, links aside, I shall give a vertual cookie to those who review.**


	3. Things Change

**Chapter 3- Things Change… But is it for Better or for Worse?**

"No." Said a blunt voice.

"What?" Melissa yelled, turning to face Renyi. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean exactly what I say," Renyi answered, a frown maintaining. "We cannot afford to get involved with this. Not with–"

"Renyi," Chloe spoke up, looking strictly at their leader. "We are joining. There's absolutely no reason for us not too!"

"Yes, there is," he argued. "The government is after our hides; and I have no intention of letting that happen."

"Just hang on a second here! I've been working for the Guys in White for three years! They've got absolutely no clue what to do. And even if they did have a clue, they'd rarely make the right choice." Garth joined the argument.

"We have connections to inside people." Cecelia added. "Valerie's father works for them too. And so did mine, once upon a time."

Sam scoffed. "As if Valerie's ever going to do anything for us."

Cecelia turned around and glared at Sam. "I know my best friend. She always makes the right choice when it really comes down to it."

Sam laughed. "Oh yeah?"

Danny had to step in and break up the two girls before things got ugly. Everybody knew Cecelia was nearly twice as strong as Sam, even without powers. But Sam was skinny and nimble. "We don't need you two fighting too!" Danny hushed them.

"I was enjoying it here," Tori stated, actually not wanting to leave. "I'm tired of running and hiding. This may be our big chance to fight back."

"And I'm NOT leaving," Mel yelled, her eyes glowing orange. "And I want to see you try and stop me! I AM joining Team Phantom!"

"Melissa," Renyi growled, his eyes glowing slightly red. "Don't question me."

"Why not?" Melissa continued, standing on her tiptoes to try and stare into his eyes. "All you do is boss us around and make our decisions for us! I practically had to bribe you to even consider us attending school! Here, we can live normal lives!"

"We're not normal," he snapped.

The rest of the group stared, watching to two yell at each other. This had happened once before. But it was when Melissa refused to let Tori die in a car crash, ignoring Ren's command and saving their best friend.

"Maybe not! But you were once! You know what it's like! All of you but Tyler and I know what being normal is like! Me? I was left in an orphanage by a stinkin' father who couldn't care enough to raise a witch child! Tyler… I don't know about him, but I know enough to know he's never lived a normal life. See, we were born this way. WE don't know what it's like to be fully human!"

"And you shouldn't!" Renyi yelled back. "It sucks! There's no thrill, no game plan, no fun! It's all stationary!"

"And what if that's what I want?" Melissa snapped, her eyes glowing pure orange, pupil lost in the sea of power. "What if I want to settle down and not have to worry about whether or not we get a decent meal? What if I want to stop and make some normal friends? What if I want to cool down and dumb my freakin' past out a window!"

Renyi just glared, an answer unknown to him. How could he reply to that? How could he reply to a teen witch who has always complained about wanting something 'normal'? And now…she had that in her hands. But he was trying to take it away, he knew that. But the thing she wanted she would never be able to have; whether or not he was there to take it.

So, Renyi did the only thing he could think of. "Pack your bags," he told her, returning his eyes to the normal dark brown. "We leave Amity Park in the morning."

"NO!" Clo cried, looking distraught.

"I am _not_ leaving!" Tori stated, saying more than a frail whisper.

"I'm staying here," Tyler agreed, crossing his arms.

"And you're free to go on your own will," Melissa began, finally calming down. "But we _will_ stay here."

Renyi looked at the other members of the group, now very unsure how to approach this. "How?" he suddenly asked. "There's no way you could pay for the apartment on your own. What about gas for the car? None of you know how to drive. What about cooking? None of you can cook."

"We own property in the ghost zone," Danny began, "As mentioned before."

"There is one big giant bedroom with six beds. But if you move in and add your beds, there will be room for _all_ of us." Cecelia was especially looking to Renyi when she said that.

"Let's do it!" Clo grinned.

Renyi scoffed. "Do what you want. I'm out. Obviously you've found a new leader who's better, faster, stronger, and smarter than I am." He slammed the door on his way out of the house.

"I…" Melissa began, hoping something would just slip off her tongue. She smiled brilliantly. "I don't know what to say, except, well, thanks!" She hugged Cecelia.

"So we can go?" Tori smiled. "Right now?"

"Just hang on a second, ladies, how on earth do you think we're going to transport all the furniture from the apartment into the lair?" Tyler was the voice of reason.

"We'll be helping of course." Garth said.

"I got an idea, if anyone cares." Tucker announced. Everybody looked to him, ready to listen. "Okay first off I need to know who all can fly."

Danny, Danielle, Garth, Tori and Melissa raised their hands.

"I can, but only with a really _really_ strong spell. I haven't mastered it yet…" Melissa confessed.

"That's ok." Tucker assured the girl. "What we're going to do first, is have Melissa, Tyler, Chloe, and Tori go back to their apartment with Garth, Danielle and Danny and pack everything up. Sam, Cecelia and I will make room for your things in our lair. We'll get there via the Specter Speeder in Danny's basement."

"And then Cecelia and I can ride back and forth in the Speeder while it's carrying all of your stuff. Tyler and Chloe can come with us and help unload." Sam said.

"And everybody else can fly, so they'll be carrying the remainder of your things during their trip to the lair." Cecelia finished the plan.

"Excellent work, you guys!" Danny hugged Tucker, his best friend.

"Let's go now! Now!" Chloe insisted.

"Allright then." Danny said. "Meeting adjourned."

It didn't take long for Cecelia, Sam and Tucker to arrive at the lair. They had a neighbor, an idiotic magician ghost named Perniculous who was out watering his plants and stuffs as the three walked past him. Perniculous waved, and Cecelia and Tucker waved back. Sam growled.

Immediately Tucker looked to Cecelia for what to do, because he himself was not a leader. And so, Cecelia immediately took charge. "The first thing we need to do is squish all the beds together so there's room." You can only imagine what it's like to rearrange these beds! Three of them were queen-sized beds, and the other three were twin beds.

Cecelia, Tucker and Sam took a few steps back to look at their work. There was barely a foot of space between the beds now.

"Let's only hope they've got bunk beds." Sam remarked. "Or we're screwed."

Just then, Tucker's stomach growled. "Golly, I sure could go for some cheeseburgers right now!"

"We gotta get back to work, Tuck." Sam scolded.

"Just hang on a second." Tucker looked to Cecelia. "How about letting our five-star chef make a meal for everybody, hm?"

Cecelia sighed. "I'm _not_ a chef. I'm not even that good at cooking. You're just looking at me because you know that with my powers I can whip up a hot meal fast."

"Pretty much." Tucker said.

"I'll go see what's in the fridge." Cecelia scurried off to the kitchen.

Well, it was the area of the lair with the fridge, sink, stove and counters. Basically the layout of the place was only three rooms. The first room is the one seen upon entering the house. The left side of the room serves as the living room, in which three sofas are placed all around a coffee table and a fireplace. The right side of the room has a tiled floor and serves as the kitchen. Two of the counters have barstools beneath then and serve as an eating place. And then in the middle of the large open room is a dining table meant for six. There were various chairs gathered around it. Three foldy chairs came from a set, one office chair, and two proper dining chairs. They had to make due. Even if it wasn't perfect, it was still home because everyone pitched in to make it work.

There's only one bathroom here in the lair, but it is large, and has two sinks, two toilets, and a shower and a tub. So it's a bit like a locker room. All the ceilings in the place are approximately 22 feet high, so there's lots of room to fly around. It's a very nice, open lair.

As for the backyard, there's not much of one on this island. There's about 4 meters of backyard. So all that's really out there is a pair of old lounge chairs and the grill which Cecelia was working on.

Cecelia was hot-grilling six hamburgers and eight hot dogs. The grill wasn't even on; she was practicing using her electrical power to cook them. Some of the meats came out charred and others came out perfect. Well, it was a work in progress. She'd start over until she got them all perfect. She wouldn't settle for anything less.

On Danny's side of things, he, Garth and Danielle were carrying their new friends. Danny had Tyler, Danielle had Clo, and Garth had Melissa. Tori flew in front of them and gave directions.

When they entered the apartment, they all discovered that Renyi's things were gone. The only item of his that remained was his bed, and that's only because it was a bunk shared with Tyler. Now began the scramble. Tyler brought out all the suitcases from the closet, as well as anything they could use to carry their things. Melissa even resorted to using plastic bags. Clo and Tori fetched their old purses. And everybody had at least one backpack and bookbag to stuff things in.

And so, they stripped the house in record time: just a few minutes over an hour. Every blanket, every headband, and every shoe fit neatly into its carrying case. There were dozens of them piled up on the couches and next to them on the floor.

"Well, they should be here any minute now." Danny said.

It was about a ten minute wait, until Tucker arrived outside with the Specter Speeder. Everybody took a load and heaped it into the Speeder. "We'll have to make a second trip with the furniture." Tucker said. And so they did. It took all afternoon and into the night before they finally sat down to eat the meal Cecelia had fixed.

The dining table now had ten chairs gathered around it, which is where everyone sat to eat. Cecelia and Danielle served the plates. Danielle reheated the cookies she had made yesterday. Sam got the salad out of the fridge and took some for herself and offered it to anyone who wanted some. Tucker dived straight for the barbecue potato chips, which he had to share with Tyler and Garth. Clo chomped right through three hot dogs before she was full.

"Somebody's going to need to go out for groceries." Danielle announced just as everyone was finishing up.

"Yup. This is the last of the salad right here." Sam scraped the bottom of the bowl.

"I volunteer." Garth said. "Why don't we all go? They need to learn how to come by groceries in the ghost zone."

Melissa laughed. "What is it? There's like, a special supermarket here, what?"

"Actually, yes." Garth said stoically.

Everybody piled into the Specter Speeder. Sam drove. She, Danielle, Cecelia and Danny sat in front. Everybody else piled in back. They parked at a large, blue and green building with a big white sign and red letters reading "Murky Market". It looked just like a supermarket! All sorts of ghosts were floating around, driving shopping carts full of food and whatnot.

Garth, Danny and Cecelia pushed the three carts.

"Everything we buy has to fit into these three carts only." Sam said. "So don't waste the space by filling it up with junk."

Everybody spread out among the store. Sam found some vegetarian burgers and tofu, as well as a lovely recipe for spice salad. Tucker found himself a beautiful ham and about six bags of different chips. Garth picked out the sirloin and some salmon, but Chloe warned him against buying the fish because she'd never eat it. Danny found the group some pasta and tomato soup and sauces. There were a gazillion noodles to choose from and he ended up choosing lasagna and those really cute little ones that look like bowties. Tyler discovered all things cheese—cheese slices, cheese bread, shredded cheese, and many more. Tori was in love with the lunchable the moment she saw them. Melissa really didn't know what to buy. So she decided to throw in a box of cookies with purple frosting and bat wing sprinkles. They all met in the checkout line. Luckily, the three carts were not overflowing.

"Gee, I hope you have enough money to buy all this stuff." Tyler remarked. He really didn't believe that Team Phantom had any real amount of cash on them. And he was right.

Garth shrugged. "Food in the ghost zone is free."

Melissa and Tyler gaped, wide-eyed in shock. "You're joking."

"No, he's telling the truth." Sam said with a sly smile.

"What Garth forgot to mention was that everything here is free to _ghosts_. Which is why it has to be a _ghost_ who checks this stuff out of the market." Danny explained.

Sam and Cecelia led Tyler, Melissa and Chloe out of the market and left tori with Danny, Danielle and Garth.

"Why do I have to stay?" Tori peered up at them.

"Because you're half-ghost, hon." Danielle started loading the food through the line. The checkout ghost scanned everything, probably to keep track of all the items in the store and what was leaving. Tori could've sworn that old ghost lady was giving her the evil eye as they walked out of the store.

"Most ghosts aren't friendly, so you have to keep the taking to the minimum when around them." Danny said to Tori.

"But I wasn't—"

"I know. I'm just warning you for future reference."

It took all ten of them to heap everything into the Speeder. By the time everything was all unloaded into the two large fridges in the lair, it was nearing midnight. It was time to hit the hay.

In the big bedroom, there were five dressers and one large-walk-in closet. During the move, the girls had transferred all their clothes to the closet and the boys occupied a dresser each with all of their clothes. The boys' shoes were inside the fifth dresser, which was the one that came from the apartment. The girls' shoes and all accessories resided within the depths of the closet. It was the fairest way to keep things organized.

Everybody had their own bed and they all went to sleep in record time. It was a long day, and they were all exhausted. The thing is, they all still had school tomorrow so there was going to be a big rush in the morning.

*Larrow*

"Interesting," he muttered, as he remembered as he remembered his brief encounter with the four strange children. Half-witches are rare, and quite unheard of. Befriending them would certainly be a great tactic. That way he could see into their lives more clearly, and find a way to turn them on Danny Phantom.

The boy, Tyler, he was a demon. Fire, eh, it was common. It was the mind that attracted Larrow to the demon. A small amount of demons had mind powers along with heat: Fo̱tiá, Astrapí̱, Flóga.

Larrow, though, still had a job to do. Not only that, he now discovered the identity of another Halfa, Tori. However, she was only eleven. And she had no idea how to use her powers. The thing about Larrow is that he won't kill anyone unless he has good reason to. Larrow was good at waiting.

"Larrow," The way Tossi communicate is through the mind. Larrow could hear Wenn's voice loud and clear. "I know you've had enough time to conjure up a plan. So I'd like to hear what it is."

"I have. And it has to do with those kids. It'd be better said in person. I'll be right over."

"If it's that serious." Wenn ended the communication.

Over the distance between the Tossi realm and the human realm, hearing thoughts was very difficult. The Tossi realm had a great shield about it, so that human thoughts were blocked out and the Tossi could go about their lives in a sort of tranquility.

So Wenn had a great deal of difficulty speaking to Larrow because he was in the Tossi realm at the moment.

Larrow decided not to tell Niki about this meeting.

Larrow smiled slyly, taking off running towards the mansion. It didn't take long, considering it was just half a mile from where he had been 'resting' at. And, without knocking, Larrow entered.

Wenn and Vlad were already waiting in the little conference room, ready to discuss this. However, Wenn looked like he knew what Larrow was bringing in would be a disappointment.

"What is it you had to report to me so soon?" Vlad demanded, not even turning to look at the new Tossi.

"It's about the witch and demon," he began, wanting to reveal the big stuff for later.

"It's not that big of a deal." Wenn said after hearing Larrow's thoughts more clearly.

Larrow grinned, placing the small television screen on the table. He flipped it on, letting his boss and acquaintance view the pair showing off their powers. By the end of it, Vlad just looked confused.

"So?" Vlad seemed unimpressed. "They have powers. Big. Deal. Our main focus is on eliminating Danny Phantom and his team."

"But what would happen, should these two teams align?" Larrow put the question on the table, forcing Vlad to think deeper into this. "That's right. Danny's team would double in size." Larrow could sense Vlad's big fear.

Wenn didn't reply, just leaning back in his seat and kicking his feet up.

Larrow's grin widened as he pulled up a seat for himself, sitting down in it. "Well, it seems to me like you're a little _afraid_ of what might turn out." Larrow could see exactly what Vlad was thinking.

Vlad glared at the boys.

"If you're so inclined, I suppose it wouldn't hurt the plan to get them out of the way." Vlad ordered.  
Think up a way to split them up so that Danny is at his most vulnerable. That's when we can integrate Cirth into the plan."

Everybody was quiet when Cirth came into the room on cue.

Larrow stared at the boy. Only a short while ago, Cirth had the appearance of a twelve-year-old boy. Now he looked full-grown; about seventeen. Larrow smiled evilly. He clapped slowly. "Marvelous, just marvelous. He looks _exactly_ like Danny Fenton. He'll definitely come in handy."

*Lair*

Cecelia and Danielle would be the first ones to awaken since they were morning people. Around 5:40 Cecelia jumped into the shower and Danielle used the shower in the bathtub. So they were all squeaky clean as they took their time fixing their hair. There was plenty of time before everybody got up, so they put on some lotion and did the laundry (washer and dryer were in the hallway next to the bedroom door) and finished just in time to start breakfast.

Cecelia immediately added frozen waffles to the three toasters. Danielle used the stove to cook four pans of French toast. While the waffles were cooking, Cecelia got out the maple syrup and the butter, and cut up a few strawberries and put them in a bowl. There was so much time to make everything absolutely fantastic.

Normally this extra time would have been filled up with training and exercising via treadmill, punching bag or combat exercises. But today was a special day. They'd start the training tonight.

There was an alarm clock between Danny and Cecelia's beds that had been set to go off at six. And anybody who still tried to get some shuteye after six was dragged out of bed by their feet, courtesy of Sam. This caused a lot of complaining, especially from Tyler and the younger girls.

Tyler, Chloe, Tori, and Melissa gathered around the bathroom arguing about who gets to shower first. Sam taped a schedule to the door. It read:_ Girls 6:00-6:45, Boys: 6:45-7:05_.

"Yee-haw!" Chloe, Tori, and Melissa high-fived on their way into the bathroom.

"That's just not fair! Girls get 45 minutes and boys only get 20?" Tyler was outraged.

"First of all, there are more girls here, and secondly, we need time to do our hair and stuff. You guys have short hair and it won't take you nearly as long to shower." Sam explained as she entered the bathroom to get ready.

"It's true." Danny said to Tyler. "It's actually a pretty good schedule."

Tucker nodded in agreement.

Breakfast was eaten slowly and casually, so everybody got to relax before school.

"Danny, don't your parents notice that the Specter Speeder is gone?" Melissa asked.

"You'd be surprised how little my parents notice. They think a ghost keeps stealing it." Danny said.

"And they're right." Danielle said. Everybody laughed.

Once they were all changed into their school clothes, Tucker drove the Specter Speeder back into the Fenton house where he parked it. Then the team all walked to school together.

"This is waaaay better than the bus!" Chloe squealed.

Cecelia looked around her at her new friends. Already, they were close. It was as if they had become one team. They were sorta like a family.

* * *

**Disclaimer has been inserted in the two previous chapters. Please check them if you do not believe me. As of now, those apply to the entire story.**

**Prenn: Hey guys! There was another awesome action-packed drama filled chapter for you! **

**Jetafray: I have a few things I'd like to tell you! One, so sorry this wasn't posted earlier. I've been in an intense Drill Camp, having learned seven brand new routines (all of which are fast, and two are kick routines). So please cut me some slack. Second, I just realized I've had Guest Reviews on lock. Wow. That is now fixed. Third, I have an account on FictionPress! The hybrid's history and adventures (excluding DP, of course) are in it. Plus, you get to meat Jake, Melissa's first love…! Third… Wait, that isn't right. Fourth (that's better!), feel free to drop a comment! Take the two seconds to fav of follow for us, please!**

**With love, Jet & Prenn.**


	4. Larrow

*History*

"Now, class, who can tell me about the Boston Tea Party?" Mr. Lancer asked, walking around the room. "Danny?"

"I dunno."

Lancer turned to "Tucker?"

"Huh?"

The class laughed.

"Cecelia?"

"Something…um…British?"

Lancer rolled his eyes. "Melissa?"

Melissa blinked, having not been paying attention. "Whaaa?"

"The Boston Tea Party," he repeated, knowing the rest of the class was snickering. "What do you know about it?"

"…It was a when America did something to Britain's ships during the war…" she answered slowly, hoping she was recalling the right battle.

Mr. Lancer sighed. "Close enough. It was actually–"

The door opened, a handsome teenager with straight black hair and the most beautiful purple eyes walked in. He had a red shirt on and dark grey skinny jeans and yellow and black tennis shoes. Melissa blushed, recognizing the kid from the other day when she bumped into him.

"Who are you?" Mr. Lancer asked, walking up to the young man.

"Larrow, sir. I'm your new student," Larrow answered, grinning.

Mr. Lancer was silent, looking over his handsome new student. "I'm sorry, but…" He kinda trailed off, then smiled back. "Right, I remember. Larrow. Go ahead and have a seat wherever you like." He wrote something down on an attendance sheet.

Larrow scanned the room. His eye stopped at Danny and Cecelia, where he stared at them for a second. Then Larrow noticed Tyler and Melissa. Larrow could sense the hormones a mile away, and he knew that Melissa was unwaveringly attracted to him. Hormones are a distraction for most species. But Tossi have the tactile advantage because all their marriages are pre-arranged from birth. Larrow chose to sit beside the teen witch, hoping to hear her thoughts and learn how she had come to live in the middle of nowhere, AKA Amity Park.

Melissa looked down, trying not to blush more. She could hear a shuffle as Larrow took the seat beside her, but she didn't look up. Melissa wasn't normally flustered. But this boy—he was _hot_.

Larrow nodded politely at her. She jerked her head away, and put a few strands of hair in front of her face, hoping that would hide the view.

"You're a new student?" She asked rashly. And then she realized what a dumb question that was.

Larrow pretended to think it was funny and he smiled. While in his mind, he was thinking, really? He could hear the girl's thoughts crystal clear now—she and her team of fugitives had recently merged with the elite Team Phantom. This was not good, but Larrow, being a Tossi, was not worried. "What is your name?"

Melissa looked up, muttering a few hopeful spells. Her blush paled, but it was still there. "Yeah, sorry about that. I-I didn't know you were a student of Casper High. My name is Melissa."

He shrugged, turning to look at Lancer. His back was turned, since he was writing stuff about a timeline on the board. Larrow turned and smiled a bit slyly at Melissa. "I was just shadowing yesterday. Today's my first _real_ day of school." Larrow could tell that Melissa wished she could show him around school. She was thinking it very loudly. "I could use someone to show me around school."

Melissa was jumping up and down inside. Larrow pretended to find it adorable. "Yes! I'd totally be into that. So, Larrow, huh? That's an unusual name."

He shrugged. "Not really." Tossi had their own traditions.

Melissa knew the blush was returning. "It's cute," she mentioned, then looked away.

Tyler, who was sitting on the opposite side of Melissa, glowered at her. He didn't trust this guy one bit. He made his emotions known to Melissa. She frowned back at him. Cecelia and Danny were sitting in the front row as usual, and Sam and Tucker were sitting behind them. Sam noticed Larrow, and thought his punkish style choice was totally rad. Cecelia was never into punk, so she just rolled her eyes and focused on Danny.

"Melissa seems to really like him." Cecelia whispered to Danny.

Danny took a good look at Larrow. And he shrugged. "So what? You're into gossip now?"

"Yup." Cecelia laughed.

"Nice jeans!" Sam said to Larrow. "I like your style."

"Thanks!" He said back.

Back a few rows, Cecelia came to sit with her friends Paulina, Star and Valerie.

"Hey Cecelia!" Paulina smiled.

"I just had this "feeling" we were going to get a new kid." Star said. "Too bad it's not somebody hot."

"What are you taking about, Star?" Cecelia asked.

"Star thinks she's psychic now." Valerie said sarcastically.

"But Val, I totally am! Remember two weeks ago when I predicted Dani Fenton would do a double backflip for her audition." Star nodded. "And then the fortune cookie incident? And the fact that my dad brought home twelve catfish all in one night? See, I'm _totally_ psychic!"

Cecelia and Paulina laughed.

"Well _I've_ got a feeling that punk Larrow is going to get all lovey-dovey cute and fluffy with that punk Melissa girl." Paulina said.

"I disagree." Star said pompously. "I predict that Larrow will end up with that goth geek Sam Manson."

All four girls laughed.

"Like Miss Bat Wings will _ever_ get a boyfriend…" Valerie said. Everybody laughed again.

Star sighed. "All goths are the same in the end—geeks."

"Not all of them. Melissa's okay." Cecelia stated.

Paulina shrugged. "Okay, let's stop talking about geeks now and focus on more important things. I've called an emergency cheer practice today. Even though it's Wednesday. We need to learn who all on the team can sing. We know Cecelia and Danielle can sing, but who else? Somebody's gotta sing for the halftime show in the saturday game. Will you all be able to come?"

"Sure!" Star giggled.

"Okay." Valerie agreed.

"Definitely." Cecelia said. "I'll tell Danielle at lunch."

"Fantastic!" Paulina smiled brightly. "You guys are the best!"

"Quiet down, girls. I'm trying to give a lecture here!" Mr. Lancer barked.

The four girls looked down at their notebooks.

Melissa bit her bottom lip, sneaking a quick peak at Larrow. He had turned away and was conversing with Sam. Melissa put a note on his desk, asking if he'd sit with her at lunch. He took it, raising an eyebrow. He looked back to the teacher, noting he was now talking to the class. Larrow grinned, unfolding the note. He wrote a reply, then passed it back.

Melissa smiled when she learned that he agreed.

Then, the bell rang signaling the end of first period.

"What's your next class, Mel?" Larrow questioned, gathering his stuff.

"I have Latin," she answered.

Larrow raised an eyebrow.

"It's the base for lots of other languages," she explained. "I'm already fluent in French and German, and I studied Greek as a kid. I'm wanting to become bilingual."

"Γιατί Έλληνες?"

"Πάντα ήταν ένα από τα αγαπημένα μου."

Larrow finished gathering his stuff, helping Melissa get hers. "Well, I would've done Spanish."

"Would've?" Melissa asked, looking up at Larrow.

"Yeah, I have Latin next, too," he answered with a seductive smile, following Melissa out the door. _Everything is perfect. Just perfect, Larrow thought._

"Really? That's great!" She stopped at her locker, not bothering to meet Tyler by his like she usually did. Melissa placed her text book in it, then grabbed her bag. "Not many others take Latin."

Larrow shrugged. "I find it fascinating. The language is almost…magical."

Melissa froze for a second, but then closed her locker and put on a smile. "Almost is right. Do you need to stop be your locker or anything?"

Larrow grinned. "No, I have everything I need. Which way to Latin?"

Melissa blushed lightly, but pointed down a not-so-crowded hallway. "This way."

_I've got the witch completely wrapped around my finger_, Larrow thought as he chuckled quietly to himself. _She'll never refuse me._

*Tyler*

While Melissa had been talking with Larrow, Tyler had been waiting by his locker. He knew Melissa wasn't going to visit, considering she was greatly getting along with the Larrow kid. But Tyler didn't trust him. Tyler had tried to peer into Larrow's mind, wondering if he really was who he says. Only, it was like Tyler rammed his head into a solid brick wall. He still had a headache from it, actually.

That was Tyler's first clue that Larrow couldn't be trusted. Larrow wasn't normal. He had taken precautions to block up his mind. Normal people wouldn't do that.

Tyler took Latin along with Melissa, considering she was his best friend. His second clue was when Larrow had sent a mean glare at him, and Tyler could feel something trying to pry into his mind.

Was Larrow a demon?

It was a logical conclusion, something that made sense. The only question that remained was this: Why would he choose to befriend Melissa? Of all people?

_There's nothing special about Melissa, really,_ Tyler thought to himself_. She's just a witch…but she's pretty and she's smart and…she's loyal. That's right. So there was really nothing to worry about. He wasn't going to lose her, was he? **dunno if I should include that. just delete it if you don't want him to start realizing his feelings yet**_

From what Ty could remember –which wasn't much– demons tended to stay in private hide-outs. Most of them, since they were low-powered, burned in sunlight. Phft, and people wonder where the myths about vampires come from. But that's not the point.

Larrow could block Tyler from his mind. He could also try to pry into his, and it greatly upset Ty. If Larrow _was_ a demon, he'd be a pretty strong one. Not burning meant he could withstand the sun's UV rays, something most demons have a… 'chemical' reaction with. Tyler was safe from this because of his human side.

Larrow also had two mind powers. Although Tyler had many, Larrow's made him uncomfortable. When Tyler pried, it felt warm. Melissa –agreeing to be a test subject– said it had felt like he was making her think of something specific.

Larrow's was cold. Ty's unsure if it's because he's a possibly different demon, or something else. One thing was for sure, though. Tyler does not trust Larrow. And he never will.

*Danielle*

Freshman class is boring. It's filled with a bunch of idiotic boys. Danielle wished she had some sort of companion, because all of her friends were in the senior class. Danielle barely got the time to voice her opinions, so after a few weeks she gave up on these guys altogether. She became known as the quiet bookwormy-type who actually cares about grades.

Well, she's really not a bookworm at all. She just wished she could find somebody—in her class—who saw her for who she really is. A music lover. And preferably, this new friend she hoped for would be a guy. An intelligent guy. Perhaps a tall and blond or red-haired soccer player or guitarist with deep blue eyes the color of rain…

"Ms. Fenton? Ms. Fenton, you're daydreaming again." Mr. Kerrel took Danielle's notebook away.

"Sorry, Mr. Kerrel! It won't happen again!" Danielle blushed.

*Sharie*

In the Ghost Zone, it was quiet. Okay, that's a lie. One girl was making a scene.

"Okay, give me directions!" a gray haired and green eyed teenage girl asked, slapping a newspaper in her hand. The paper shook, the girl opening it.

'NO,' it read in big, bold letters. Then, the letters vanished, and a picture replaced it, followed by smaller words. It was giving her a report on something happening in the Observants' Realm, a place she couldn't care less about.

"Fine, but can you at least give me a 'report' on when a portal close to me will open?"

The paper trembled again, a small picture of a black and white portal appearing in the corner. 'NOW.'

"Finally," Sharie –the girl– declared, rolling the paper back up and slipping it into a silver handbag. A portal appeared in front of her, taking her to the human realm.

She ended up in Amity Park, just outside a record deal. Sharie grinned, pushing some bangs out of her face. Then, she looked at her orange watch, frowning. "Eleven-ten? I have to wait five hours!"

She spotted Amity Park's park.

"But I wouldn't mind having a bit of fun!" With that, she ran off to the park, jumping onto a swing. With one gust of wind, she was swinging high.

*Melissa*

Melissa lead Larrow to their table. Danny instantly seemed to tense a bit, but Melissa didn't notice.

"You all know Larrow, right? He was in History," she informed, taking a seat besides Tyler.

"Yep," Danny answered. The others nodded.

"Yeah." Sam said. "The guy with an awesome style."

"Hey, Mel's told me about you guys," Larrow mentioned, taking a seat on the other side of Melissa. He could sense the half-ghost boy Danny Fenton. "Let me guess… Danny?"

Danny nodded. "That's me."

Larrow turned his head just slightly. _Ah, the electric girl, _he thought, _she'll be a difficult one to manage._ "Cecelia?"

"The one and only," Cecelia replied casually.

Larrow could sense the heart of a true goth. "Samantha?"

"It's Sam, call me anything but and I'll be forced to kick you," she retorted, glaring at Larrow.

Larrow pretended to gulp, knowing most people would against her glare. _Inwardly Larrow was insulted that a mere human would attempt to threaten him. _"Got it, Sam. And you're Tucker, right?"

Tucker nodded proudly. "That'd be me!"

"Are you Danielle?" he asked, moving onto the smallest figure. She too, was a half-ghost. And she was a clone. Danny's clone. But she wasn't nearly as powerful as him. Larrow had a taste for power. And he could smell it a mile away. Danny and Cecelia were the two most powerful at this table, besides Larrow himself. And even Danny and Cecelia still had much to learn.

"Yeah I'm her," Danielle replied, tightening her ponytail.

"And you're Tyler, right?" Larrow finished, looking over to Tyler. "You were in Latin with us."

Tyler nodded kindly, trying again to peer into Larrow's mind. Like the last time, he failed, and now had an awful headache.

"Well, uh, want to go get lunch?" Melissa asked, getting rid of a small blush. She moved her bag under her seat, getting up.

"Sure," Larrow agreed doing the same.

"I'll go, too," Tyler offered, rising. The trio headed off to grab their lunches.

Cecelia and Danny shared a look, both smiling. "Mel has a crush," Cecelia stated, watching as Melissa laughed at some joke Larrow cracked.

"I know," Danny stated, then turned to look at Cecelia.

"I don't trust him," Sam stated plainly.

"You never trust anyone," Tucker pointed out, rolling his eyes. "I know you still don't trust Melissa."

"Her and Tyler have been here for less than a week and we told them out secret. Have you forgotten the part about them being criminals?"

"Not for long," Valerie's voice echoed, her walking over and taking the seat besides Cecelia. "My dad was wondering the same thing. He's working on a case to… declare them innocent, you could say. Garth's working with him on it."

Sam scowled, still not totally trusting the group. or Valerie. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"For your information, Samantha, I was invited." Valerie said.

Sam glared.

Valerie leaned in to whisper to Cecelia, "Sorry I've been in a rotten mood for so long. That's all about to change. BFFs again?"

"Rockin'!" Cecelia hugged Valerie.

"Sometimes it's hard for some people of differing social backgrounds to be friends." Danielle seemingly talked from experience.

"You guys all did, didn't you?" Valerie joked, elbowing her.

"Some of us," Danny put in, shooting a pointed look in Sam's direction. "Sam and Mel don't get along very well. And she and _Cecelia_ still don't get along. So I think it'll be a long time before there's peace here, Valerie."

"They haven't even told us if they caused all those things to happen or not," Sam argued, actually raising a good point. "We know nothing of their pasts. If they told us, there'd be no way to confirm they're telling the truth."

"I think they're to be trusted," Cecelia stated, smiling as she noticed the small trio walking back with their lunches. "So, Melissa, are you coming to the football game next Saturday? I'm going to be singing in it. and I want all of you guys to be there. You too, Ty."

Sam huffed, not bothering to continue the subject.

"Sports aren't really my thing." Melissa stated.

"Me either." Tyler agreed. "But we'll be at the game, regardless."

"Great!"

Larrow read Melissa's mind. She was hiding from them the fact that she dearly wanted to be right up there singing with Cecelia but didn't know how to ask.

_It's too late._ Melissa kept repeating to herself. _They've probably already held auditions and everything…I just wasn't fast enough._

Larrow took a deep breath. "I'll bet Melissa would look good singing up there with you, Cecelia."

Tyler was shocked that Larrow would have made such a suggestion.

Melissa choked on her sandwich.

"Um that's an interesting suggestion, Larrow." Cecelia said. "Melissa, would you like to?"

"Uh…"

"You and I can talk to Paulina after school today." Cecelia said.

"Yeah, she's called a meeting." Valerie added.

"Hm." Melissa just sat there, biting her lip.

"At least give it a shot." Larrow encouraged.

When Melissa looked into those eyes, she just couldn't say no. They were too alluring. "I guess I could do it. Sure, why not?"

"Great!" Cecelia was always happy when something new was accomplished.

"Great." With that, Valerie got up, running back to join the A-listers.

Larrow laughed lightly. "I see you've got one good group of friends," he mentioned.

Mel's eyes widened. "Oh, Valerie? No, she's not really my friend. Just Tyler, Danny, and Cecelia here."

Hey!" Tucker and Danielle cried, both looking offended.

"And these guys," Melissa added. "Sorry. So, no, Valerie isn't one of my friends." _But she _is_ trying to help us…_ Mel thought, feeling a bit bad she didn't consider Valerie a friend.

Larrow grinned. "Consider me one?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," she answered casually.

*Chloe*

"I don't see why we're doing this," Roger stated, trying to pull Chloe back. Clo slapped his hand, peaking back at the end of the hallway.

"Because he's a jerk," she answered, twisting her hand a bit. The bell rang, signaling it was time for lunch. Her and Roger were pulling a prank on the school bully. True, Chloe was cheating. By that, she's using her powers.

"So? At least he leaves us alone."

"Don't be such a scared fish," she retorted, watching as Blake, a tall, raven-haired boy, went to his locker. "He's doing it!"

He opened his locker, and Chloe pulled her elbow back. A water balloon came flying out, slamming on Blake's face.

The hallway silenced.

"Go!" Chloe yelled, pushing Roger into the crowd. Happily, she walked out, casually walking to lunch. Middle school was fun.

*Sharie*

"Sooooo borreeed!" she complained, looking up at the sky. It was just around noon, and she was already bored of the park.

Then, there was a scream. "Help! Someone help! He's taking my purse!" an elderly lady hollered, pointing at a masked man.

Sharie jumped into action, willing the plants to shoot up and trip the thief. She ran up, plucked the purse from his hands, and gave it to the lady.

"Thank you! Are you a ghost?" she asked, squinting.

"Only part," Sharie answered, walking back to the park. Now that she think about it, she hadn't played on the tire swing yet…

*Melissa*

Finally, the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. As it happens, Larrow was in all the classes she was in. He was just so…easy to talk to. It was like he could read her mind. It made Melissa happy.

"Melissa," he said, grabbing her arm. "Here." He took out a slip of paper, scribbling something down on it.

Mel took the slip of paper, opening it. _888-8888_.

"My number," he confirmed, then took off, waving.

Melissa laughed lightly, taking out her phone. He added him in as a contact, putting a little _:)_ by his name.

"How was today?" Chloe asked as her and Tori walked up to them. Since the middle school was only a ten minute walk they met up at Casper High.

"Really great," Melissa answered. "There's a new kid. Larrow. He's so…different."

"Good different or bad different?" Chloe inquired kindly. "We've met both."

"Good. Definitely good."

Tori grinned, getting a wave of emotion off of Melissa. Happy.

"Well, should we head to the Lair now?"

Melissa shook her head. "We've gotta wait for Ty," she stated, looking back at the school. Tyler came out, his bag and everything ready. He ran over, not even panting. "And then I've gotta head to Cecelia's cheerleading practice. I may get the chance to sing on Saturday's big football game."

"Ooh, kawaii." Clo said.

"What's that mean?" Asked Tori skeptically.

"It means 'cute' in Japanese. One of my classmates told me." Clo said proudly.

"Oh."

"Tyler will take you back to the lair." Melissa informed the girls.

"Here I am." Tyler said. "Is everybody ready?"

"Yup." Tori said. "See ya later, Melissa."

Melissa headed out to the girls locker room.

"Now we can go," Chloe confirmed, and they headed to the Specter Speeder to wait for Team Phantom.

As it turned out, Team Phantom was waiting for them. They crowded into the Speeder, taking off to Danny's place.

Chloe looked over at Sam. "I heard there's a new guy," she stated. "Melissa seems a bit mm-hmm over him."

Sam laughed. "That's true. Larrow and Melissa became instant friends. It's just…"

"What?"

Tucker bit his bottom lip. "I don't know. It's like he knows about us. I can't explain it."

Chloe nodded her head. "I know the feeling. We've met lots of weirdoes on our travel."

"And Larrow is definitely one of them." Sam said.

"I agree completely." Ty gave Sam a hardcore fist-bump.

"That's the thing," Danny mentioned. "He wasn't weird at all. He was cool, slick, and comfortable with himself. Trust me, I've seen dozens of new kids and he definitely wasn't behaving like one."

It was Chloe's turn to laugh. "I know what you mean. He's pretty easy going, ain't he?"

"That's exactly it!" Tucker agreed.

They entered the lab, Tori shifting into her ghost form as they crossed the border into the ghostly land the lair was not far from here. It was already within view.

"Is Cecelia cooking again?" Tyler asked, turning to face Danny.

"Not today," Danny announced. "Her dad was wondering where she was all night. Garth'll be cooking tonight."

"Garth's a better cook anyway." Sam said.

"You're just saying that because you're all mushy over him." Tucker smiled. "Admit it, Sam, you have a crush."

Sam rolled her eyes.

"Ooooh." Chloe and Tori's eyes widened with excitement.

"See? Look what you've started." Sam gave Tuck a playful shove.

*Cheer Practice*

Mel met Cecelia in the girls' locker room. Cecelia, Star, Valerie, Paulina, Danielle as well as about ten other girls were getting into the Casper High cheerleading uniform. It consisted of a red sleeveless shirt bearing the middrift and a short red skort. There was gold trim all around the edges of the fabric and a big white stripe at the collar and at the bottom of the skort. The pom-poms were yellow and red. Only Paulina and Cecelia had brought their pom-poms today.

Everybody had their hair put up in high ponytails and they put on a basic layer of makeup.

"Okay, girls!" Paulina got everybody's attention just as they were finishing up. "Thank you sooo much for coming today. I'm sorry if I inconvenienced anyone. Let's all meet out on the football field," they all walked out, "And so now we can start a final rehearsal!" She turned on the little stereo and put it on the ground. Everybody turned to Danielle. "Hey, did you pick out a song for us yet?"

"Um, yeah!" Danielle pulled out a blue folder from her backpack. There were four copies of sheet music for [*its fine if you still want to do _Skyscraper_, but I have an idea for a song. It's one I wrote, called _Whatever_. When you read this part you can choose which one they will sing ^^*]

"Great!" Paulina said, reading the music over. "This is a great song. And you and Cecelia are going to sing it, I presume?"

"Actually," Cecelia began, pulling Melissa into view of the cheer squad, "I was hoping Melissa could sing with us too. I know she's not a member, but she's pretty good."

Star scoffed. "My psychic intuition is tellin' me this is going to be bad." She whispered to Val.

"Tell me about it." Val replied. "Only cheerleaders and varsity athletes are allowed to do the halftime show. Paulina would never—"

"Sure!" Paulina smiled.

"Great!" Cecelia gave Melissa a fist bump. Melissa tried to hide it, but she was beaming. She really _really_ wanted to sing. She was so happy that she gave Cecelia a big bear hug.

"Of course, we _will_ need a demonstration of said talent." Paulina focused her stare on Melissa.

Melissa looked down at the sheet music.

"Are you ready to sing it now?" Cecelia asked.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Melissa said, her voice shaky. Suddenly her nerves were throbbing.

"I sing melody. Can you do harmony?" Cecelia asked.

"What kind?"

"Arianna Grande and Elizabeth Gilles kind." Cecelia stated. "You know their song _Give It Up_?"

"Um, yeah."

[*insertlyricshere if its Skyscraper then you can put it in but if you choose Whatever here is the link s/7719716/1/Danny_Phantom_songs*]

"Well, you're still a little pitchy around the edges," Paulina yawned, "But it's manageable, I suppose."

"That's Paulina's way of saying we did a good job." Danielle whispered to Melissa, who laughed.

Cecelia gave the girls high-fives.

Later in the day, Danielle and Melissa flew Cecelia back to the cozy comforting home called their ghostly lair. The group was just beginning to get settled around the fireplace as Garth cooked the pasta and the steaks. Cecelia was so tired from the day that she briefly dozed off on Danny's lap. Chloe, Tori and Tyler wouldn't leave Sam alone about liking Garth and they kept bringing it up when he got closer. Tucker found the whole thing pretty hilarious. Melissa, on the other hand, was miles and miles away thinking about Larrow. She pulled his phone number out of her pocket and briefly her mind toyed with the idea of calling him.

"WAIT!" a new voice cried. Sharie phased through the ceiling, looking worn out. "Don't move!"

Danny and Danielle instantly transformed. Cecelia woke up. Everyone got into a fighting position.

Sharie's eyes widened. "Oh! No, I mean no harm! Just here to see an old friend!"

Melissa –being the only one who hadn't gotten into a fighting position– grinned. "Sharie, it's so nice to see you!" she exclaimed, running up to the part-ghost.

Sharie embraced Melissa in a hug, almost squeezing the life outta her. "When I heard you befriended Team Phantom, I knew I just had to say hi!"

"How did you know I befriended them?" Melissa asked, trying to get her breath back.

"The Newspaper of Time," she answered, taking out the newspaper. "Clockwork let me… Dang! I need to get this back to him!"

"Hold on," Danny interrupted. "You're going too fast. Let's start from the beginning. Who are you?"

Sharie blinked. "I'm Sharie. I'm only part ghost, though. Not like Danny or…Tori, was it?" Tori grinned, nodding. "Yeah. Well, I am here to stay! I have a home, uh, ish. But don't worry; I'm good."

She paused, turning to Melissa. "Just needed to say hello to an old friend. How was it we met again?"

Mel laughed lightly. "You bumped into me at the mall somewhere in Germany."

"Well, that being said," Sharie said. "I've got to return the Newspaper to Clocky. That okay with all of y'all?"

"Yeah..." Danny said slowly, still a bit confused. "Whatever."

"Great! I'll see you all in class tomorrow. Wow, Casper High has gotten four new students in a week! New record!" Sharie dove into the ghost zone.

All eyes turned to a smiling Melissa, whom just shook her head. "Trust me, you don't even wanna know."

"Oh poop. Dinner's going to be a little bit charred today." Garth warned them. "But here it is."

Everybody assembled in a line and took their food.

"Did you take care of things with your father?" Danny asked Cecelia.

She cringed, as if she had just eaten a rotten banana. "Ooh."

"You didn't? He'll be mad as fire." Danny put a comforting arm around her.

"Please don't mention—uk—_fire_." Garth swallowed a mouthful of charred food.

Cecelia smiled, despite the mood.

* * *

**Preen: Well, there's another excellent chapter! **

**Jetafray: Well said, Preen! Anyway, I've realized my YouTube links have not been posting. :/ Well, just type in "Maroon 5 Melody Max" and click 'Enter" then the second option. Really great singer, he is. Uh, PCE! **

**~Jetafray**


	5. PARTAH

*Melissa*

It was morning. Overnight, Melissa had the most fantastical idea. She dialed Larrow's phone number and smiled when he picked it up. "Hey. There's a little get-together tonight. It starts at six."

"Where?"

"At Tucker's house. Tucker Foley. It's his birthday today, ya know. Eighteen. Wow."

"I'll be there." He said coolly. He was just leading her on of course. He knew that with his velvet speech and alluring eyes, he could get her to trust him.

"…Promise?"

"Promise."

When Melissa hung up, she let out the biggest girlish squeal of all.

"Are you okay?" Tyler asked from in the hallway.

"Splendid, actually." Was her reply.

*Garth*

Garth was going to work as usual. He was in his sloppy little brown car—the engine just barely started today—going 35 in a 55mph lane because the car wouldn't go any faster. He made it to work just barely in time and he headed over to his locker to put his lab coat on.

He received a new assignment today—to monitor the security screens.

How very boring.

Of only Renyi were sill his partner, he could give the job to him and work on some other assignments. "Excellent job, Mr. Lloyd." Agent O came in to check up on the boy and gave him a satisfactory pat on the back. Metaphorically, of course.

"But, Agent, I didn't—"

"No need to be modest, Mr. Lloyd. I know a good worker when I see one. You boy, are verging on the edge of a promotion!" Agent O walked out.

Garth sank back into the security chair. "More like verging on the edge of unconsciousness." He said under his breath. He was barely keeping his eyelids open. They started to fall shut. He blinked a few times.

One of the cameras showed a dog trotting into the building via an automatic door. Garth stood up with his flashlight and pistol gun and sighed regretfully. Since the building was set up in a small clearing of the woods, wild dogs, owls, rabbits, snakes—they all wandered in here from time to time.

Garth got down to the ground level floor. The big wolfish-dong was just standing there. Patiently. And it had a paper in its mouth. Secretaries fled the room with high-pitched screams and the alchemists rushed to get their experiments out of reach of the wolf. Garth cocked the gun. Normally that sound alone would've scared the creature away. But Garth stared into those yellow eyes and he saw something. A glint of intelligence, perhaps?

The wolf took a few steps backwards. All in one second he dropped the paper he was carrying and glided out the door. "Everything's okay." Garth said loudly to the workers. "It's gone." He tried not to draw attention to himself as he knelt to pick up the note.

"_Where are they?" _

Garth took a moment to process it. He looked once more out into the dense forest. That was no ordinary wolf out there—it was a werewolf. And one in particular, too.

*Chloe's Afternoon*

"Roger and Chloe are henceforth crowned the king and queen of pranks!" Melanie announced to the class. Chloe and Roger received several high-fives and cheers.

Everybody in the class was smiling and laughing, except for Blake of course. Blake couldn't stand them because he was often the victim of their pranks. He thoughts bitterly, _I don't deserve this!_

The class was currently enjoying a few minutes of talk-time while the teacher was out of the room running an errand or something. Chloe was happily discussing a new prank with Roger when something outside caught her eye. It was a wolf—brown and slightly larger than normal. Chloe recognized it immediately. "Excuse me for a second, Roger."

"Um okay."

As soon as she got to the hallway, Chloe searched for a door that would lead outside to the very place she saw the wolf. When she got there, not only was the wolf gone, but Mrs. Lane was frowning at her from back inside the classroom.

"What were you doing _outside_, Chloe?" Mrs. Lane had a deep, distorted man-voice. And she was big on the muscles too.

Chloe had no words. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Blake broke out into a cackle. "Karma's finally getting you back!" He shouted. Roger threw a pencil at him to shut him up.

While Chloe was standing there being taken for a fool. Mrs. Lane got out the detention pad. "If you don't come up with an excuse—and quick—you have got yourself two extra hours of school tonight."

_Oh no,_ Chloe thought, _then I'll be walking home alone. In the dark._

"Detention!" Mrs. Lane handed Chloe the slip. She took it quietly with no objection and returned to her seat carrying what little dignity she had left.

"What was that all about?" Roger whispered to her.

Chloe shook her head.

.

After school, Chloe took a walk of shame up to Tyler to tell him what happened today.

"You got a detention?!"

"Only because I wanted to see Renyi!"

"Renyi's gone! It was just a dog you saw. Not him."

"No! It was Renyi I saw. I swear! I know it was him!"

Tyler sighed and shook his head. He turned his back to her.

"So is one of you going to come pick me up?" She asked quietly.

"You could carpool with Cecelia. Everybody except for the cheerleaders is going to Tucker's house to prepare for the birthday party." Tyler got into Tucker's car along with Sam. Danny, Tori and Melissa were in the other car—Danny's.

Chloe dragged her tennis shoes along the sidewalk, not wanting to return to school just for detention. She took a quick jog out to the football field and explained her situation to Cecelia and Danielle so that they could be expecting her on the ride home.

"Chloe, I know it might not mean much right now, but I believe you." Cecelia told the younger girl.

"What?"

"Me too." Danielle agreed. "I believe what you said. About Renyi."

"If you say it was him, than who are we to say otherwise?" Cecelia and Chloe hugged.

Chloe enjoyed this little spark of happiness before she hurled herself into detention with Mrs. Lane.

Since Chloe was the only one in detention, this was going to be a very long two hours.

"Clap those erasers! Clean that chalkboard! Sharpen this pencil! Empty that trash can! Dust that window!" Every other minute, Mrs. Lane was shouting in Clo's ears. "Scoop up that dust bunny! Stack these papers! Roger? What are you doing here?"

Chloe looked up. She was an island surrounded by dozens of piles of stacked papers. All of a sudden, Roger was here. Was he going to rescue her? For a moment, Chloe's imagination flashed by an idea that she was a princess trapped in a castle and Roger…well you know the rest.

"My mom's working late." Roger shrugged, casting a bewildered glance at his friend on the floor.

Clo wanted so badly to speak to him. But there was nothing to say. Nothing that she would allow herself to say, anyways.

Roger at the very least had given her something to think about for the remainder of her time. At 5:30 she was home free. In a leap, she ran out into the football field. Cheerleading practice had ended a half hour ago. Now, Cecelia, Danielle, Paulina and Valerie were sitting on the bleachers.

"Gosh, you're all such great friends! I really appreciate you waiting for me!" Chloe hugged Cecelia and Danielle.

"We're not waiting for you anymore." Paulina stated plainly. "We're waiting for Dash's football practice to end."

"He's a member of Team Phantom as well." Cecelia explained. "And so is Paulina."

"And me." Valerie added. "Dash, Paulina, Jazz, Bob and I are the five honorary members. Jazz is Danielle's older sister and Bob is my boyfriend and Tucker's cousin."

"Ah, I see." Chloe joined them on the bleachers, where they could just kick back and relax in the cool breeze while watching the sun set on the field. It was a rather majestic picture, actually.

"I do love being out here at night." Cecelia giggled.

"Me too!" Paulina gave her a high-five.

The football guys were just finishing up. "Okay let's go." Dash said to the girls. He drove with Paulina, while Danielle, Valerie and Chloe rode in Cecelia's car.

The house was not a far distance; they easily could have walked it. The house was an ordinary green-shingled cape-cod, but it was radiating with music.

"Looks like the party's already started." Val said.

"And we're missing it! Cecelia, park the car faster." Danielle scolded.

"I'm trying!"

"Are you sure this is the right house?" Clo asked quietly. "It's not very…Tucker."

"Trust me, Tucker's a whole different person after dark if you know what I mean." Danielle said. Everybody broke out into laughter.

*Party!*

It was a party indeed.

"Happy 18th birthday, Tucker!" The phrase went flying. The birthday boy spent the majority of his time at the party hitting on Danielle and Paulina and occasionally Cecelia. Valerie and Bob were making out in a closet. Sam and Melissa were going on and on about goth stuff. Tori crashed on the couch where she looked bored stiff, despite Chloe poking her every few seconds. Every five minutes Dash would bug Tucker or Tyler about playing football. But they repeatedly turned him down. Tyler discovered that he and Jazz Fenton get along swell. They both like to read up on history and stuff. As for Garth and Danny, they were sitting quietly at the kitchen table talking only in slightly audible whispers.

They were talking about the intelligent wolf Garth had strangely encountered in the morning. Both boys were waffling back and forth as to whether or not it really was Renyi. And even if it was him, how would they find him? If it wasn't him, were they just wasting their time?

Eventually Chloe let Tori fall asleep. Clo swore she heard the name "Renyi" come out of Danny's mouth and stood up to investigate. "So what are you guys talking about?"

Danny sighed. Garth didn't really want to say it. "Garth thinks he saw Renyi this morning." Danny said.

"Funny. I saw Renyi this was trotting outside the school building but when I got there he was gone. That's how I earned my detention, by the way. And now thanks to Renyi's reclusiveness, my whole class thinks I'm chasing shadows."

"Would a shadow have written this?" Garth handed Chloe the note that was in the wolf's mouth.

"_Where are they?"_

Chloe was perplexed. "This is Renyi's scribble alright. But what does this mean?"

"We were thinking that perhaps he was wondering what happened to you four." Danny said. "After all, what else could he mean?"

*Larrow*

Larrow was in the quiet little suburban home that Vlad and Wenn had arranged for him to live in. Wenn was present, actually, and the two of them were arguing about tonight.

"If I _don't_ go to that party, I may never again get the chance to be in the same room as the entire Team Phantom." Larrow combed through his black hair.

Wenn raised an eyebrow. "You're concealing something. Your motives aren't so clear. You've got a hidden agenda."

Larrow shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, I suppose I do."

"Well? It's gotta be something of importance if you went to that much effort to hide it. I don't like being uncertain, Larrow…"

"It's about the Team. If I can get close to them, I can pick them off one by one. I'll need you nearby to teleport the hostage to our realm, if necessary."

Wenn rounded on him. "You're forgetting how delicate Vlad's plan is!"

Larrow stepped backwards, frowning.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to lose my temper. I'll have Niki waiting with me."

"She may be of much importance."

"I already know who you have in mind to take as our first hostage. And might I congratulate you—I suppose we really _do_ think alike after all."

Larrow nodded.

"And if you have time, Larrow, capture the annoying one too. It'll give my soul great ease to have her finally be silenced."

"Of course, Wenn." Larrow threw on a slick black leather jacket over his white shirt that bore just the slightest bit of chest. His jeans were dark red and his shoes black as the night.

Soon as Larrow was walking in the direction of the party, Wenn put his part of the plan into action. Tonight, they may be returning to Vlad with not one, but _two_valuable hostages.

Larrow could see in the dark—an advantage of Tossi eyes—so he liked it better. Nobody could see him, but _he_ could see _them_. The night was an excellent advantage. Larrow knocked on the door of the Foley house.

"Who could that be?" A muffled voice asked. A pair of footsteps were gradually approaching. "Hey!" Somebody yelled as another person pushed them out of the way in a race towards the door.

"Larrow! You made it!" Melissa was standing there. She pulled him inside. "Everybody, look! This is my friend Larrow."

In an instant, all happy faces turned to solemn frowns. The room was silence except for the music, which Sam soon unplugged. Everybody else seemed frozen completely except for their eyes. Melissa remained still as Sam slowly approached. Sam's face was the worst of all-that deep gothic frown. It was not one of anger, but rather one of a worse reflection. One of disappointment. One of betrayal.

The two girls stood face to face, each waiting for the other to say the first word. To throw the first punch.

"Ladies?" Tucker spoke with concern.

"Melissa," Danny carefully took a few steps closer to them, "You're not allowed to invite just_anybody_ to our parties."

"I'm sorry, gee, if it's such a big deal then I'll go." Larrow played the innocent. Melissa tugged on his shirt to prevent him from exiting through the front door.

"Larrow, it's not your fault at all." Danny explained generously.

"This is an _exclusive_ party." Sam said, turning to Tucker.

"Well-well I-I would have liked you to let me know if you were going to invite extra guests." Tucker said. "Larrow, you seem like a cool guy."

"Thanks."

"I think he should be allowed to stay. For the dance contest at least." Cecelia spoke on Larrow's behalf.

"I object." Garth said, remembering the delicate conversation about Renyi. They couldn't have that talk if Larrow was within hearing range—and they _needed_ to have that talk.

A sweaty Valerie and Bob emerged from the closet. "What did we miss?"

"Aw, chill out Sam." Cecelia said. "There's no reason to get all upset."

"Of course _you_ would take Melissa's side." Sam took a jab.

"Don't talk to her like that." Melissa argued.

"I can talk to her however I want to." Sam raised her voice. "And FYI, I still don't trust you. And after today, I don't think I ever will." Sam's voice was breaking, almost as if she were going to cry. What surprised everyone was that Sam was the person who ended up running out of the house.

"Was it something I said?" Larrow was smooth, perfectly smooth, like water.

"No." Cecelia assured him comfortingly.

"Not at all." Tucker said.

"So…he can stay?" Melissa asked.

"Fine by me." Tucker said.

"Then let the festivities resume!" Danielle decided to play deejay for the night and put on some karaoke. Tucker had a microphone handy which he gave to Melissa. While Melissa sung, Cecelia and Paulina entertained everybody with a really hot dance. It was one of their cheerleader routines that didn't get approved because it was too persuasive.

The guys were quite entertained.

For a grand finale, Cecelia, Melissa and Danielle performed the song they were going to sing at the upcoming halftime show. During the applause, Larrow was plotting how to get Cecelia out of the house and into Wenn's clutches. "Cecelia, could I have a word with you? Outside?" He asked.

"Um…" Larrow just had that sexy smile—the one girls can't say no to. "Sure." Cecelia laughed half-mindedly.

He pulled her outside by her thin little wrist. He could tell her powers had a very delicate balance, but she also had a tremendous amount of focus, more so than any of the others. Perhaps it came from all those years of mediating. He ran his long, cold fingers through her strong dark hair. "Cecelia…you're such an excellent dancer…and singer."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but, I thought you liked _Melissa_ ."

"I'm not a fool, Cecelia, _of course_ I like Melissa." He leaned in closer to Cecelia.

"I have a boyfriend." She backed away. "Danny and I are dating."

"Oh are you?" Larrow smiled as if he didn't care.

"Yes."

"Well, do you know what _I'm_doing?"

"What?"

"I'm waiting for Niki."

"Who's…?" Before Cecelia could even finish the question, she was zapped by the stealthy Niki.

"Good work." Larrow encouraged Niki as he swung the body of Cecelia easily over his shoulder. "Think you can carry her?" Niki shook her head. The two of them walked over to the curb where they dumped the unconscious girl into the trunk, along with the unconscious Sam Manson. Niki got into the passenger seat and they parked a few blocks down to wait for Larrow.

Larrow popped in one more time at the party just to say, "Hey, it's pretty late, so I'm going to get going."

"Did you see Cecelia out there by any chance?" Danny asked.

"I saw him leave with her." Jazz whispered to her little brother.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. She says she and Sam are going to take a little walk and they won't come back until they've settled things. Because, apparently their argument has been going on for a long time. Or at least that's what Cecelia told me."

"Bye!" People waved. Melissa hugged Larrow one last time. He could tell she was hoping for a kiss, and he wasn't going to give it to her. He'd only resort to that at the most desperate of measures. And so he got into Wenn's silver Honda SUV and they teleported into the Tossi realm.

*Tossi Realm*

The girls were put inside a cage in Wenn's basement. The cage was impenetrable by humans and ghosts, and well, there was a shield around it preventing Cecelia's electric powers from exiting it.

"What are we going to do with them? Hand them over cto Vlad?" Niki asked the boys.

Larrow rolled his eyes. "_No_."

"Vlad doesn't even know they're here." Wenn said. "We're going to use them to our tactical advantage, Niki."

"Well, we're going to use _Cecelia_at the very least." Larrow said.

"The goth one is pretty much useless. She and her parents don't get along—an only child by the way—no boyfriend, no cousins, only friends are Danny, Tucker and Garth. Those are the only people she trusts. Only living relatives are Jackie Manson, an aunt who lives in Paris, Grandma Keller, turning eighty-six this year, and her parents. She is quite jealous of Paulina, Danielle and Cecelia for being attractive looking and having long hair and very free spirits. She feels betrayed by Melissa, never trusted Cecelia—mostly out of jealousy—always found Danielle and Tucker to be a bit annoying, and feels that the only two people in the whole world who understand her are Danny and Garth."

"Wow. You're really good at seeing into a mind, Larrow." Niki applauded him.

"Thanks." He shrugged, feeling modest. "And Cecelia—humph—only living relative is her father Mortimer. Cecelia here relies on her friends and social status way more than she should. She's a preppy A-lister at heart but fell in love with Danny. Cecelia makes friends way too easily—namely, Valerie, Danny, Danielle, Tucker, Garth, Melissa, Tyler, Chloe, Tori, Paulina, Star, Dash and Kwan. Never liked Sam because of her gothness and her attitude. Cecelia's into martial arts and combat exercises which will prove her a worthy foe in physical battle. But our battle with her right now is mental not physical."

*The Lair*

By midnight, everybody was already in the lair, whether it was by way of their own flight pattern or by way of the Specter Speeder. Everybody except Cecelia and Sam of course.

Danny was trying to reach Cecelia on her cellphone nonstop. Garth dropped Sam a call or sent a text every few minutes. Tucker even tried. But nobody could get ahold of them.

"Gosh that must be some stimulating conversation they're having." Valerie said as she lay down on the leather couch.

"They probably just went home." Danielle said. "And went to bed."

Speaking of bedtime, everybody got into their pajamas and those who lived here dived into their beds. Bob and Val slept on the couch. Jazz and Danielle shared a bed since they were sisters. They had done that whenever the family went on vacations. Paulina took Cecelia's bed and Dash took Sam's. The selection was based off a coin toss, in which, Dash lost.

In the morning it was time to begin training.

And thus, the mother of all hectic days was born.

Danny first split everybody up into two groups, power or no power. Paulina, Dash, Jazz, Bob, and Tucker stayed inside while Danny, Valerie (who brought her suit), Garth, Melissa, Tyler, Danielle, Chloe and Tori all went outside.

Tucker was in charge when it came down to his team. He helped them refine their basic weaponry and combat skills and had them practice new techniques and styles.

Danny paired everybody up. Tyler was paired with Garth, Melissa with Danielle, and Chloe with Valerie. Danny chose Tori. Tyler and Garth easily were like opposite magnates though their powers were so similar. The moment one would strike, the other would block and throw an equally powerful attack back. It was truly an infinite battle that these two had going on.

As far as Danielle and Melissa went, Danielle obviously had the agility of flight on her side whereas Melissa could barely fly at all. But Melissa had the advantage of launching creative hexes, though most of them Danielle could block with no problem.

Chloe and Valerie were definitely the mismatch here. Chloe summoned water from a nearby realm. She could easily turn it into ice or use it even as a shield, but this did not always protect her from Valerie's powerful blasts. To make it fair, Danny had Valerie remove the hover board from her suit so that she was ground bound just like Chloe.

Now, there was a reason Danny chose the young, less experienced little Tori. "I'm not going to be able to beat you. Not in a gazillion years." Tori said, downtrodden.

Danny smiled kindly. "I didn't pick you to fight you. I want to teach you."

She looked up surprised.

"Launch an ectoblast here." Danny pointed to a space in the air. Tori fired, but her blast was about two and a half feet off. "It's a start." Tori frowned. She sat down on the little sidewalk. Danny came and sat down next to her. "When I first got my powers, sometimes my pants would just fall down because I didn't know how to control intangibility yet."

Tori laughed.

"And this one time, I was eating so fast that I swallowed my spork and had to pull it out using my powers."

Tori smiled.

"And the thing is, I didn't give up. I had a small group of friends that believed in me. And look at you, you have the whole Team behind you too. So really, you're just the same as me."

"Really?"

"It's true. You just gotta believe in yourself." He helped her to her feet. "We're all one Team here. We need to think and act as one. We must always do our best. And so long as you're doing so, I promise I'll be proud."

Tori gave him a hug. "Uh, your phone's vibrating."

Danny took the call. "Cecelia?"

"Hey! Danny! Look, an emergency came up and my father had to go to NASA, so it may be a long time until he comes back."

"Oh. I understand. Did you work thing out with Sam?"

"Yes! Yes of course. Everything's cool now. We're totally friends. So I'll see you soon I hope. Love you. Bye."

"Love you." He closed the phone just as Tucker was coming outside.

"Danny! You're never going to believe who called! It's Sam! She said her parents sent her to Jackie again. Apparently there's some college over there that they want Sam to take interest in?" Tucker said.

"Hmm." Danny gathered everybody together inside after training was over and explained to them what happened to the girls.

"Gee, and right before the Saturday game, too." Danielle said. "Looks like it'll be just you and I, Mel."

"The game's in two weeks. Surely this 'emergency at NASA' can't last that long." Valerie said.

"Who knows. Could be longer." Tyler stated. Paulina elbowed him.

*Tossi Realm*

In Wenn's basement, he, Larrow and Niki were standing around the cage that they had Cecelia and Sam trapped in. Wenn and Larrow were cackling wildly. Niki was laughing, but in a more polite way. "Human minds!" Wenn chortled.

"Ah, yes, so easy to overpower!" Larrow hooted. "Cecelia's dad is halfway to NASA by now thinking he's going to fix a disaster that never happened! Ha!"

"Well, there _will_ be a disaster, it just won't happen to him."

"Good one, Niki!" Wenn gave her a hand smack.

* * *

**Jetafray: I know, evil us. No update for weeks and you NO REVIEWERS are left waiting. Do I feel bad? Nope, not really. Anyway, just wanted to say I'm on a hold-up now, school's worsening, and my sister shattered her ankle the other night. D: **

**REVIEW! OR NO UPDATES FOR A LONG TIME! And I know you're out there. I see you reviewing Prenn's post. MY UPDATES ARE LONGER! **

**(crickets) **

**Please? **

**PCE! **

**~Jetafray**


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